'■'i,m..i  .  mii'uu.i.uui'iu.iii  jLUfw 


C&e  Li&ratg 


of  tlje 


Onitoersttg  of  iQortfc  Carolina 


<5ift  from  fyz 

Southern  $int0  Etbtatp 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00022092664 


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ROLLO    IN    GENEVA, 


Br 


JACOB    ABBOTT. 


NEW  YORK: 
SHELDON  &  CO.,  667  BROADWAY, 

AND  214  &  216  MERCER  ST., 
Grand  Central  Hotel. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1858,  by 

JACOB     ABBOTT, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massa. 
chusetts. 


re 


PRINCIPAL  PERSONS  OF  THE   STORY. 

Rolio  ;  twelve  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  Rollo's  father  and  mother,  travel' 

ling  in  Europe. 
Thanny  ;  Rollo's  younger  brother. 

Jane  ;  Rollo's  cousin,  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  lloaday. 
Mr.  George  ;  a  young  gentleman,  Rollo's  undo. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.  —  The  Fame  of  Geneva,  . 
II.  —  Planning, 
III.  —  The  Ride  to  Geneva,  . 
IV. —  The  Town, 
V.  —  The  Hotel, 
VI.  —  A  Ride  in  the  Environs, 
VII.  —  The  Junction  of  the  Abve, 
VIII.  —  Seeing  Mont  Blanc  go  out, 
IX.  —  A  Law  Question,    . 
X.  —  An  Excursion  on  the  Lake 
XL  —  Villeneuve,     . 
XII.  —  The  Castle  of  Chillon, 

XIII.  —  Plan  Formed, 

XIV.  —  Walk  to  Aigle,     . 
XV.  —  The  Jewelry, 

XVL  —  A  Fortunate  Accident, 


PAOI 

11 

24 

35 

55 

64 

71 

93 

108 

122 

134 

148 

155 

171 

179 

197 

209 


ENGRAVINGS. 

PACK 

The  Castle  of  Chillon,  (Frontispiece.) 

The  Great  Net.    ...               ....  30 

Going  through  the  Village, 46 

View  of  Geneva, 58 

The  Water  Wheel, 100 

Fishing, 104 

Going  to  take  a  Sail, 132 

The  Dungeons  of  Chillon,        ...  161 

The  Basket  Ride,         ....                .        .  185 

Shopping  at  Geneva, 203 


ROLLO  IN  GENEVA. 

Chapter  I. 
The  Fame  of  Geneva. 

City  of  Geneva.  The  crescen  t  In  ko. 

GENEVA  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and 
most  celebrated  cities  in  Europe.  It  de- 
rives its  celebrity,  however,  not  so  much  from  its 
size,  or  from  the  magnificence  of  its  edifices,  as 
from  the  peculiar  beauty  of  its  situation,  and 
from  the  circumstances  of  its  history. 

Geneva  is  situated  upon  the  confines  of  France, 
Switzerland,  and  Sardinia,  at  the  outlet  of  the 
Lake  of  Geneva,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  beau- 
tiful, and  certainly  the  most  celebrated,  lake  in 
Switzerland.  It  is  shaped  like  a  crescent,  —  that 
is,  like  the  new  moon,  or  rather  like  the  moon 
after  it  is  about  four  or  five  days  old.  The  lower 
end  of  the  lake  —  that  is,  the  end  where  Geneva 
is  situated  —  lies  in  a  comparatively  open  coun- 
try, though  vast  ranges  of  lofty  mountains,  some 

ai) 


12  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

The  blue  waters  of  the  lake.  The  lake,  the  city,  and  the  rivei 

of  them  covered  with  perpetual  snow,  are  to  be 
seen  in  the  distance  all  around.  All  the  country 
near,  however,  at  this  end  of  the  lake,  is  gently 
undulating,  and  it  is  extremely  fertile  and  beau- 
tiful. There  are  a  great  many  elegant  country 
seats  along  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  on  the 
banks  of  the  River  Rhone,  which  flows  out  of  it. 
The  waters  of  the  lake  at  this  end,  and  of  the 
river  which  issues  from  it,  are  very  clear,  and  of 
a  deep  and  beautiful  bine  color.  This  blue  color 
is  so  remarkable  that  it  attracts  the  attention  of 
every  one  who  looks  down  into  it  from  a  bridge 
or  from  a  boat,  and  there  have  been  a  great  many 
suppositions  and  speculations  made  in  respect  to 
the  cause  of  it ;  but  I  believe  that,  after  all,  no- 
body has  yet  been  able  to  find  out  what  the 
cause  is. 

The  city  of  Geneva  is  situated  exactly  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  lake,  that  is,  at  the  western  end ; 
and  the  River  Rhone,  in  coming  out  of  the  lake, 
flows  directly  through  the  town. 

The  lake  is  about  fifty  miles  long,  and  the  eastern 
end  of  it  runs  far  in  among  the  mountains.  These 
mountains  are  very  dark  and  sombre,  and  their 
sides  rise  so  precipitously  from  the  margin  of  tbe 
water  that  in  many  places  there  is  scarcely  room 
for  a  road  along  the  shore.  Indeed,  you  go  gen- 
erally to  that  end  of  the  lake  in  a  steamer  ;  and 


The    Fame   of    Geneva.  13 

The  Rhone.  The  lake  of  Geneva  is  gradually  being  filled  up. 

as  you  advance,  the  mountains  seem  to  shut  you 
in  completely  at  the  end  of  the  lake.  But  when 
you  get  near  to  the  end,  you  see  a  narrow  valley 
opening  before  you,  with  high  mountains  on  either 
hand,  and  the  River  Rhone  flowing  very  swiftly 
between  green  and  beautiful  banks  in  the  middle 
of  it.  Besides  the  river,  there  is  a  magnificent 
road  to  be  seen  running  along  this  valley.  This 
is  the  great  high  road  leading  from  France  into 
Italy  ;  and  it  has  been  known  and  travelled  as 
such  ever  since  the  days  of  the  old  Romans. 

The  River  Rhone,  where  it  flows  into  the  lake 
at  the  eastern  end  of  it,  is  very  thick  and  turbid, 
being  formed  from  torrents  coming  down  the 
mountain  sides,  or  from  muddy  streams  derived 
from  the  melting  of  the  glaciers.  At  the  west- 
ern end,  on  the  other  hand,  where  it  issues  from 
the  lake,  the  water  is  beautifully  pellucid  and 
clear.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that  during  its  slow 
passage  through  the  lake  it  has  had  time  to  settle 
The  impurities  which  the  torrents  bring  dowi 
into  it  from  the  mountains  all  subside  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  lake,  and  are  left  there,  and  thus  th*1 
water  comes  out  at  the  lower  end  quite  clear. 
The  lake  itself,  however,  is  of  course  gradually 
filling  up  by  means  of  this  process. 

There  are  several  large  and  handsome  houses 


14  Rollo  in    Geneva. 

Size  of  Geneva.  The  causes  of  its  celebrity. 

on  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake  ;  but  Geneva,  at 
the  western  end  of  it,  entirely  surpasses  them  all. 

Geneva  is,  however,  after  all,  a  comparatively 
small  town.  It  contains  only  thirty  or  forty  thou« 
sand  inhabitants.  It  would  take  ten  Genevas  to 
make  a  New  York,  and  nearly  a  hundred  to  make 
a  Paris  or  London. 

Why,  then,  since  Geneva  is  comparatively  so 
small,  is  it  so  celebrated  ?  Almost  every  person 
who  goes  to  Europe  visits  Geneva,  and  talks  of 
Geneva  when  he  comes  back  ;  while  there  are 
multitudes  of  other  cities  and  towns,  many  times 
as  large  in  extent  and  population,  that  he  never 
thinks  of  or  speaks  of  at  all. 

There  are  several  reasons  for  this. 

1.  The  first  reason  is,  that  this  town  stands  on 
the  great  high  road  leading  from  England  and 
France  into  Italy.  Of  course  it  comes  naturally 
in  the  way  of  all  travellers  making  the  grand 
tour.  It  is  true  that  at  the  present  day,  since 
steam  has  been  introduced  upon  the  Mediterra- 
nean, a  very  large  proportion  of  travellers,  in- 
stead of  passing  through  Switzerland,  go  down 
the  Rhone  to  Marseilles,  and  embark  there.  Bui 
before  the  introduction  of  steam,  for  many  ages, 
the  way  by  Geneva  was  almost  the  only  way  to 
Italy ;    and   the   city  acquired   great  celebrity 


The  Fame   op   Geneva.  15 

The  two  routes.  The  Alps  of  Savoy  and  the  Oberland  Alps. 

through  the  accounts  of  tourists  and  travellers 
who  visited  it  on  their  journeys. 

2.  The  second  reason  is,  that  Geneva  is  a  con- 
venient and  agreeable  point  for  entering  Switzer- 
land, and  for  making  excursions  among  the  Alp3. 
There  are  two  great  avenues  into  Switzerland 
from  France  and  Germany  —  one  by  way  of 
Geneva,  and  the  other  by  way  of  Basle.  By  the 
way  of  Basle  we  go  to  the  Jungfrau  and  the 
Oberland  Alps  which  lie  around  that  mountain, 
and  to  the  beautiful  lakes  of  Zurich  and  of  Lu- 
cerne. All  these  lie  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
Alpine  region.  By  the  way  of  Geneva  we  go  to 
the  valley  of  Chamouni  and  Mont  Blanc,  and 
visit  the  vast  glaciers  and  the  stupendous  moun- 
tain scenery  that  lie  around  this  great  monarch 
of  the  Alps. 

There  is  a  great  question  among  travellers 
which  of  these  two  Alpine  regions  is  the  most 
grand.  Some  prefer  the  mountains  about  Mont 
Blanc,  which  are  called  the  Alps  of  Savoy. 
Others  like  better  those  about  the  Jungfrau, 
which  are  called  the  Oberland  Alps.  The  sce- 
nery and  the  objects  of  interest  are  very  different 
in  the  two  localities  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that 
any  difference  which  travellers  may  observe  in 
the  grandeur  of  the  emotions  which  they  sever- 
ally produce  upon  the  mind  must  be  due  to  the 


16  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

Mont  Blanc.  The  proper  pronunciaticn  of  foreign  names. 

peculiar  circumstances  or  moods  of  mind  in  which 
they  are  visited.  It  is  true  you  can  get  nearei 
to  the  Jungfrau  than  you  can  to  Mont  Blanc, 
and  so  can  obtain  a  more  impressive  view  of  his 
icy  and  rocky  sides  and  glittering  summit.  But 
then,  on  the  other  hand,  Mont  Blanc  is  really  the 
highest  peak,  and  is  looked  upon  as  the  great 
monarch  of  them  all.  ■ 

And  here,  as  the  name  of  Mont  Blanc  will  of 
course  often  appear  in  this  volume,  I  have  a  word 
or  two  to  say  in  respect  to  the  proper  pronuncia- 
tion of  it  in  America ;  for  the  proper  mode  of 
pronouncing  the  name  of  any  place  is  not  fixed, 
as  many  persons  think,  but  varies  with  the  lan- 
guage which  you  are  using  in  speaking  of  it. 
Thus  the  name  of  the  capital  of  France,  when 
we  are  in  France,  and  speaking  French,  is  pro- 
nounced Par-ree ;  but  when  we  are  in  England 
and  America,  and  are  speaking  English,  we  uni- 
versally pronounce  it  Par-is.  It  is  so  with  almost 
all  names  of  places.  They  change  the  pronun- 
ciation, and  often  the  mode  of  spelling,  according 
to  the  analogy  of  the  language  used  by  the  per- 
son speaking  of  them. 

Many  persons  suppose  that  in  order  correctly 
to  pronounce  the  name  of  any  place  we  must  pro- 
nounce it  as  the  people  do  who  live  in  and  around 
the  place.     But  this  is  not  so.     The  rule,  on  the 


The  Fame   of   Geneva.  17 

Madrid.  Paris.  Rome.  Mont  Blanc. 


other  hand,  is,  that  we  must  pronounce  it  as  the 
people  do  who  live  in  and  around  the  place  the 
language  of  which  we  are  speaking.  Thus  the 
people  of  France  call  their  capital  Par-ree; 
those  of  Spain  call  theirs  something  like  this,  — 
Madhreedth  ;  the  Italians  pronounce  theirs  Roma; 
but  we,  in  talking  English,  say  simply,  Paris, 
Madrid,  and  Rome  ;  in  other  words,  when  we  are 
talking  English,  we  talk  English  throughout,  using 
English  words  for  names  of  things,  and  English 
pronunciation  for  names  of  places,  in  all  cases 
where  there  is  an  English  pronunciation  estab- 
lished, —  as  there  is  in  respect  to  all  the  rivers, 
towns,  mountains,  and  other  localities  on  the 
globe  that  are  well  known  and  often  spoken  of 
in  the  English  world. 

Mont  Blanc  is  one  of  these.  Like  the  word 
Paris  it  has  its  French  pronunciation  for  the 
French,  and  its  English  pronunciation  for  the 
English ;  and  its  English  pronunciation  is  as  if  it 
were  spellad  Mount  Blank  or  Mont  Blank.  Under 
this  name  it  has  been  known  and  spoken  of  famil- 
iarly all  over  England  and  America  for  centu- 
ries ;  and  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  proper  name 
to  give  it  when  we  are  speaking  English. 

Its  French  pronunciation  is  very  different.  It 
is  one  which  none  but  a  practical  French  scholar 
can  possibly  imitate,  except  in  a  very  awkward 


18  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

Methods  of  pronunciation. 

manner.  Those  who  have  visited  France  and 
Switzerland,  and  have  been  accustomed  to  the 
French  sound,  often  give  the  word  the  French 
pronunciation ;  but  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to 
do  so.  The  word,  like  Paris,  has  its  own  estab- 
lished English  sound ;  and  if  it  is  not  pedantry 
to  attempt  to  give  it  the  French  sound  when 
speaking  English,  it  certainly  is  not  a  mispronun- 
ciation to  give  it  the  English  one.  Indeed,  to 
require  the  French  pronunciation  of  the  word 
from  English  speakers  would  be  in  effect  to  ban- 
ish it  almost  altogether  from  conversation  ;  for 
among  the  ten  millions,  more  or  less,  in  England 
or  America,  who  speak  English  well,  there  is 
probably  not  one  in  a  thousand  that  can  possiblv 
give  the  word  its  true  French  pronunciation. 

In  reading  this  book,  therefore,  and  in  speak- 
ing of  the  great  Swiss  mountain,  you  are  per- 
fectly safe  in  giving  it  its  plain  English  sound,  a* 
if  it  were  written  Mont  Blank ;  and  remembei 
the  principle,  as  applicable  to  all  other  similar 
cases.  Wherever  a  foreign  name  has  become  sc 
familiar  to  the  English  world  as  to  have  obtained 
an  established  English  pronunciation,  in  speaking 
English  we  give  it  that  pronunciation,  without 
any  regard  to  the  usage  of  the  people  who  live 
on  the  spot. 

But  now  I  must  return  to  Geneva,  and  give 


The  Fame   of   Geneva.  19 

The  third  cause  of  the  fame  of  Geneva. 

some  further  account  of  the  reasons  why  it  ha? 
been  so  celebrated. 

3.  The  third  reason  why  Geneva  has  acquired 
so  much  celebrity  among  mankind  is  the  great 
number  of  learned  and  distinguished  philosophers 
and  scholars  that  have  from  time  to  time  lived 
there.  Switzerland  is  a  republic,  and  the  canton 
of  Geneva  is  Protestant ;  and  thus  the  place  has 
served  as  a  sort  of  resort  and  refuge  for  all  the 
most  distinguished  foes  both  of  spiritual  and 
political  tyranny  that  have  risen  up  in  Europe  at 
intervals  during  the  last  five  hundred  years. 
Geneva  was  indeed  one  of  the  chief  centres  of 
the  Reformation  ;  and  almost  all  the  great  reform- 
ers visited  it  and  wrote  about  it,  and  thus  made 
all  the  world  familiar  with  it,  during  the  exciting 
times  in  which  they  lived. 

Besides  this,  Geneva  has  been  made  the  resi- 
dence and  home  of  a  great  many  moral  and  polit- 
ical writers  within  the  last  one  or  two  centuries ; 
for  the  country,  being  republican,  is  much  more 
open  and  free  than  most  of  the  other  countries 
of  Europe.  Men  who  have  incurred  the  displeas- 
ure of  their  own  governments  by  their  writings 
or  their  acts  find  a  safe  asylum  in  Geneva,  where 
they  can  think  and  say  what  they  please.  All 
this  has  tended  very  strongly  to  attract  the  atten 
tion  of  mankind  to  Geneva,  as  to  a  sort  of  lumi 


20  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

The  mechanical  products  of  Genera. 

nous  point  in  respect  to  moral  and  political 
science,  from  which  light  radiates  to  every  part 
of  the  civilized  world. 

4.  There  is  one  more  reason,  very  different 
from  the  preceding,  which  tends  to  make  Geneva 
famous,  and  to  draw  travellers  to  visit  it  at  the 
present  day ;  and  that  is,  it  is  a  great  manufactur- 
ing place  for  watches  and  jewelry — one  of  the 
greatest,  indeed,  in  the  world.  Travellers,  in 
making  the  tour  of  Europe,  —  and  American 
travellers  in  particular,  —  always  wish  to  bring 
home  with  them  a  great  number  and  variety  of 
purchases ;  and  the  things  that  they  buy  they 
very  naturally  desire  to  buy  at  the  places  where 
they  are  made.  It  is  not  merely  that  they  hope 
to  get  them  better  and  cheaper  there,  but  it  is  a 
pleasant  thought  to  be  associated  always  after- 
wards with  any  object  of  use  or  luxury  that  we 
possess,  that  we  bought  it  ourselves  at  the  place 
of  its  original  manufacture.  Thus  the  gentlemen 
who  travel  in  Europe  like  to  bring  home  a  fowl- 
ing-piece from  Birmingham,  a  telescope  from  Lon 
do2.,  or  a  painting  from  Italy  ;  and  the  ladies,  in 
planning  their  tour,  wish  it  to  include  Brussels  01 
Valenciennes  for  laces,  and  Geneva  for  a  watch. 

Thus,  for  one  reason  or  another,  immense  num- 
bers of  people  go  every  year  to  Geneva,  in  the 
course  of  the  tour  they  make  in  Europe,  either 


The  Fame   op   Geneva.  21 

From  Lyons  to  Geneva.  The  diligence.  Rollo  in  Lyons. 

for  business  or  pleasure.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
number  of  these  visitors  annually  is  not  less  than 
thirty  thousand  ;  and  the  chief  streets  and  quays 
of  the  town  are  marked  almost  as  strikingly  by 
the  conspicuousness  and  splendor  of  the  hotels  as 
Broadway  in  New  York. 

The  place  of  departure  in  France  for  Geneva 
is  Lyons.  If  you  look  upon  the  map  you  will 
see  the  situation  of  Lyons  on  the  River  Rhone, 
almost  opposite  to  Geneva.  There  is  a  railroad 
from  Paris  to  Lyons,  and  so  on  down  the  Rhone 
to  Marseilles.  But  from  Lyons  up  to  Geneva  — 
which  is  likewise  situated  on  the  Rhone,  at  the 
place  where  it  issues  from  the  Lake  of  Geneva  — 
there  was  no  railroad  at  the  time  of  Rollo's  visit, 
though  there  was  one  in  the  process  of  construc- 
tion. The  party  were  obliged  to  travel  by  dili- 
gence on  that  part  of  the  journey.  The  diligence 
is  the  French  stage  coach.  The  diligence  leaves 
Lyons  in  the  evening,  and  travels  all  night.  As 
Mr.  Holiday  arrived  at  Lyons  the  evening  before, 
Rollo  had  the  whole  of  the  day  to  walk  about 
the  town  before  setting  out  for  his  evening  ride. 
His  father  gave  him  leave  to  go  out  alone,  and 
ramble  where  he  pleased. 

"  The  most  curious  places,"  said  his  father, 
;;  are  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  where  the 
silk  weavers  live.     Notice  what  bridge  you  go 


22  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

Mr.  Holiday's  instructions  to  Rollo. 

over,  so  that  you  will  know  it  again,  and  then  if 
you  get  lost  on  the  other  side  it  will  be  no  mat- 
ter. All  you  will  have  to  do  is  to  keep  coining 
down  hill  till  you  reach  the  river,  and  then  look 
up  and  down  till  you  see  the  bridge  where  you 
went  over.  That  will  bring  you  home.  And  be 
sure  to  be  at  home  by  five  o'clock.  We  are  going 
to  have  dinner  at  half  past  five." 

"  Then  won't  it  be  in  season,"  asked  Rollo,  "  if 
I  am  at  home  by  half  past  five  ?  " 

"  In  season  for  what  ?  "  asked  his  father. 

"  Why,  to  save  my  dinner,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father  ;  "  it  might  be  in  season 
to  save  your  dinner,  but  that  is  not  what  I  am 
planning  to  save.  I  have  no  particular  uneasi- 
ness about  your  dinner." 

"  Why,  father !  "  said  Rollo,  surprised. 

"  I  have  no  wish  to  have  you  go  hungry,"  re- 
plied his  father  ;  "  but  then  if  by  any  chance  you 
happened  to  be  late  at  dinner,  it  would  be  of  no 
great  consequence,  for  you  could  buy  something, 
and  eat  it  in  the  diligence  by  the  way.  So  I  was 
not  planning  to  save  your  dinner." 

"Then  what  were  you  planning  to  save,  father ?" 
asked  Rollo. 

"  My  own  and  mother's  quiet  of  mind,"  replied 
Mr.  Holiday,  "  especially  mother's.  If  five  ruin- 
ates of  the  dinner  hour  were  to  come  and  you 


The  Fame  op   Geneva 


23 


A  rule  for  children. 


should  not  appear,  she  would  begiu  to  be  uneasy; 
and  indeed  so  should  I.  In  such  cases  as  this, 
children  ought  always  to  come  before  the  time 
when  their  parents  would  begin  to  feel  any  un- 
easiness respecting  them." 

Kollo  saw  at  once  the  correctness  of  this  ptin- 
ciple,  and  he  secretly  resolved  that  he  would  be 
lit  home  a  quarter  before  five. 


24  Rollo   in    Geneva 


The  coup6  and  the  banquette  compared. 


Chapter    II. 
Planning. 

"  What  part  of  the  diligence  are  we  going  to 
ride  in,  father?"  asked  Rollo,  as  they  were 
seated  at  dinner. 

"In  the  coupe,"*  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  Ah,  father !  "  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  wish  you  would 
go  on  the  banquette.  We  can  see  so  much  bet- 
ter on  the  banquette." 

"  It  would  be  rather  hard  climbing  for  mother," 
said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  to  get  up  to  the  banquette  — 
such  a  long  ladder." 

"  0,  mother  can  get  up  just  as  easily  as  not," 
said  Rollo.     "  Couldn't  you,  mother  ?  " 

"  I  am  more  afraid  about  getting  down  than 
getting  up,"  said  his  mother. 

"  But  it  is  a  great  deal  pleasanter  on  the  ban- 
quette," said  Rollo.  "  They  keep  talking  all  the 
time  —  the  conductor,  and  the  drivers,  and  the 
other  passengers  that  are  there ;  while  in  the 
coupe  we  shall  be  all  by  ourselves.  Besides,  it  is 
so  much  cheaper." 

*  Pronounced  coa^uy. 


Planning.  25 


Comfort  in  the  coupe.  Excitement  in  the  banquette. 

"  It  is  cheaper,  I  know,"  said  Mr.  Holiday ; 
"but  then  as  to  the  talking,  I  think  we  shall  want 
to  be  quiet,  and  go  to  sleep  if  we  can.  You  seo 
it  will  be  night." 

"Yes,  father,  that  is  true,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  but  I 
had  rather  hear  them  talk.  I  can  understand 
almost  all  they  say.  And  then  I  like  to  see  them 
change  horses,  and  to  see  the  conductor  climb  up 
and  down.  Then,  besides,  at  almost  all  the  vil- 
lages they  have  parcels  to  leave  at  the  inns  ;  and 
it  is  good  fun  to  see  them  take  the  parcels  out 
and  toss  them  down,  and  tell  the  bar  maid  at  the 
inn  what  she  is  to  do  with  them." 

"  All  that  must  be  very  amusing,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday  ;  "  but  it  would  not  be  so  comfortable 
for  your  mother  to  mount  up  there.  Besides,  I 
have  engaged  our  places  already  in  the  coupe, 
and  paid  for  them." 

"  Why,  father !  "  said  Rollo.  "  When  did  you 
doit?" 

"I  sent  last  evening,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "It 
is  necessary  to  engage  the  places  beforehand  at 
this  season.  There  is  so  much  travelling  into 
Switzerland  now  that  the  diligences  are  all  full. 
I  had  to  send  to  three  offices  before  I  could  get 
places." 

"  Are  there  three  offices  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  his  fathe- ;  "  there  are  three  dif 
Cerent  lines. 


20  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

Mr.  Holiday  proposes  to  Rollo  to  procure  a  seat  in  the  bauquette. 

"  But  I'll  tell  you  what  you  may  do,  Rollo,  if 
you  please,"  continued  his  father.  "  You  may  go 
to  the  bureau,*  and  see  if  you  can  exchange  your 
seat  in  the  coupe  for  one  in  the  banquette,  if  you 
think  you  would  like  better  to  ride  there.  There 
may  be  some  passenger  who  could  not  get  a  place 
in  the  coupe,  on  account  of  my  having  taken  them 
all,  and  who,  consequently,  took  one  on  the  ban- 
quette, and  would  now  be  glad  to  exchange,  and 
pay  the  difference." 

"  How  much  would  the  difference  be  ?  "  asked 
Rollo. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  five  or 
six  francs,  probably.  You  would  save  that  sum 
by  riding  on  the  banquette,  and  you  could  have 
it  to  buy  something  with  in  Geneva." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  joyfully,  "  I  should  like 
that  plan  very  much." 

"  But  do  you  think,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  that 
you  know  French  enough  to  explain  it  at  the 
bureau,  and  make  the  change  ?  " 

"  0,  yes,  mother,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  have  no 
doubt  I  can." 

So  Rollo  said  he  would  finish  his  dinner  as 
Boon  as  he  could,  and  go  off  at  once  to  the  bureau. 

*  Bureau  is  the  French  word  meaning  office;  and  English  peo- 
ple, when  travelling  in  France,  fall  into  the  habit  of  using  the 
word  in  that  sense. 


Planning.  27 


The  condition  of  the  exchange.  The  quaint  old  inn. 

"  There  is  one  other  condition,"  said  his  father. 
"  If  I  let  you  ride  on  the  banquette,  and  let  you 
have  all  the  money  that  you  save  for  your  own, 
you  must  write  a  full  account  of  your  night's 
journey,  and  send  it  to  your  cousin  Lucy." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  will." 

Rollo  left  the  dinner  table  while  his  father  and 
mother  were  taking  their  coffee.  The  table  was 
one  of  a  number  of  separate  tables  arranged 
along  by  the  windows  on  the  front  side  of  a 
quaint  and  queer-looking  dining  room  —  or  salle 
a  manger,  as  they  call  it  —  in  one  of  the  Lyons 
inns.  Indeed,  the  whole  inn  was  very  quaint  and 
queer,  with  its  old  stone  staircases,  and  long  cor- 
ridors leading  to  the  various  apartments,  and  its 
antique  ceiling,  —  reminding  one,  as  Mr.  Holiday 
said,  of  the  inns  we  read  of  in  Don  Quixote  and 
other  ancient  romances. 

Rollo  left  his  father  and  mother  at  this  table, 
taking  their  coffee,  and  sallied  forth  to  find  his 
way  to  the  bureau  of  the  diligence. 

"  If  you  meet  with  any  difficulty,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday,  as  Rollo  went  away,  "  engage  the  first 
cab  you  see,  and  the  cabman  will  take  you  directly 
there  for  a  franc  or  so." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  " I  will." 

"  And  if  you  don't  find  any  cab  readily,"  con- 
tinued his  father,  "  engage  a  commissioner  to  go 
with  you  and  'how  you  the  way." 


28  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

The  commissioner.  Rollo  studying  the  map  of  Lyons. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

A  commissioner  is  a  sort  of  porter  who  stands 
at  the  corners  of  the  streets  in  the  French  towns, 
ready  to  do  any  thing  for  any  body  that  calls 
upon  him. 

Rollo  resolved  not  tc  employ  either  a  cabman 
or  a  commissioner,  if  it  could  possibly  be  avoided. 
He  took  the  address  of  the  bureau  from  his  father, 
and  sallied  forth. 

He  first  went  round  the  corner  to  a  bookstore 
where  he  recollected  to  have  seen  a  map  of  Lyons 
hanging  in  the  window.  He  looked  at  this  map, 
and  found  the  street  on  it  where  he  wished  to  go. 
He  then  studied  out  the  course  which  he  was  to 
take.  Lyons  stands  at,  or  rather  near,  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  two  rivers  Rhone  and  Saone.  In 
coming  to  Lyons  from  Paris,  the  party  had  come 
down  the  valley  of  the  Saone  ;  but  now  they  were 
to  leave  this  valley,  and  follow  up  that  of  the 
Rhone  to  Geneva,  which  is  situated,  as  has  already 
been  said,  on  the  Rhone,  at  the  point  where  that 
river  issues  from  the  Lake  of  Geneva. 

The  hotel  where  Rollo's  father  had  taken  lodg- 
ings was  near  the  Saone  ;  and  Rollo  found  thai 
(he  bureau  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  town, 
where  it  fronts  on  the  Rhone. 

So  Rollo  followed  the  course  which  he  had 
marked  out  for  himself  on  the  map.     In  a  short 


Planning.  29 

The  quay  and  the  parapet  along  the  river. 

time  he  saw  before  him  signs  of  bridges  and  a 
river. 

"Ah,"  says  he  to  himself;  "I  am  right ;  I  am 
coming  to  the  Rhone." 

He  went  on,  drawing  nearer  and  nearer.  At 
length  he  came  out  upon  the  broad  and  beautiful 
quay,  with  large  and  elegant  stone  buildings  on 
one  side  of  it,  and  a  broad  but  low  parapet  wall 
on  the  other,  separating  the  quay  from  the  water. 
There  was  a  sidewalk  along  this  wall,  with  many 
people  walking  on  it ;  and  here  and  there  men 
were  to  be  seen  leaning  upon  the  wall,  and  looking 
over  at  the  boats  on  the  river.  The  river  was 
broad,  and  it  flowed  very  rapidly,  as  almost  all 
water  does  which  has  just  come  from  Switzerland 
and  the  Alps.  On  looking  up  and  down,  Rollo 
saw  a  great  number  of  bridges  crossing  this 
stream,  with  teams  and  diligences,  and  in  one 
place  a  long  troop  of  soldiers  passing  over.  On 
the  other  side,  the  bank  was  lined  with  massive 
blocks  of  stone  buildings.  In  a  word,  the  whole 
scene  presented  a  very  bright  and  animated  spec- 
tacle to  view. 

Nearly  opposite  to  the  place  where  Rollo  came 
out  upon  the  river,  he  saw,  over  the  parapet  wall 
that  extended  along  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
quay,  a  very  large,  square  net  suspended  in  the 
air.     It  was  hung  by  means  of  ropes  at  the  four 


30 


Rollo   in   Geneva. 


The  great  net  which  Rollo  saw  in  Lyons. 


corners,  which  met  in  a  point  above,  whence  a 
larger  rope  went  up  to  a  pulley  which  was  at 
tached  to  the  end  of  a  spar  that  projected  from 
the  stern  of  a  boat.  The  net  was  slowly  descend- 
ing into  the  water  when  Rollo  first  caught  a  vkw 


THE  GREAT  NET. 


oi  it ;  so  he  ran  across,  and  looked  over  the  par 
apet  to  see. 

The  net  descended  slowly  into  the  water.     Ii 


Planning.  31 

"  Business  before  pleasure."  The  burean. 

was  let  down  by  men  in  the  boat  paying  out  the 
line  that  held  it. 

"  Ah,"  said  Rollo  to  himself ;  "  that's  a  curi- 
ous way  to  rig  a  net.  I  should  like  to  stay  and 
see  them  pull  it  up  again,  so  as  to  see  how  many 
fish  they  take ;  but  business  first  and  pleasure 
afterwards  is  the  rule." 

So  he  left  the  parapet,  and  walked  along  the 
quay  towards  the  place  where  the  bureau  was 
situated. 

"  I'll  come  back  here,"  said  he  to  himself, 
"  when  I  have  got  my  place  on  the  banquette, 
and  see  them  fish  a  little  while,  if  I  find  there  is 
time." 

In  a  few  minutes  Rollo  came  to  the  place  he 
was  seeking.  It  was  in  a  little  square,  called 
Concert  Place,  opening  towards  the  river.  Rollo 
knew  the  bureau  by  seeing  the  diligence  standing 
before  the  door.  It  had  been  brought  up  there 
to  be  ready  for  the  baggage,  though  the  horses 
were  not  yet  harnessed  to  it. 

Rollo  went  into  the  office.  He  found  himself 
in  a  small  room,  with  trunks  and  baggage  arranged 
along  on  one  side  of  it,  and  a  little  enclosure  of 
railings,  with  a  desk  behind  it,  on  the  other. 
There  was  a  young  man  sitting  at  this  desk, 
writing. 

"  This  must  be  a  clerk,  I  suppose,"  said  Rollo 
to  himself. 


32  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Rollo  exchanges  his  seat  and  gains  eight  francs. 

Opposite  to  where  the  clerk  was  sitting  there 
was  a  little  opening  in  the  railings,  for  people  to 
pay  their  money  and  take  their  tickets  ;  for  peo- 
ple take  tickets  for  places  in  the  diligence,  in 
Em  ope,  just  as  they  do  for  the  railroad.  Rollo 
advanced  to  this  opening,  and,  looking  through 
it,  he  stated  his  case  to  the  clerk.  He  said  that 
he  had  a  place  in  the  coupe  that  his  father  had 
taken  for  him,  but  that  he  would  rather  ride  on 
the  banquette,  if  there  was  room  there,  and  if 
any  body  would  take  his  place  in  the  coupe. 

The  clerk  said  that  there  had  been  a  great 
many  persons  after  a  place  in  the  coupe  since  it 
had  been  taken,  and  that  one  lady  had  taken  a 
place  on  the  banquette,  because  all  the  other 
places  in  the  coach  had  been  engaged. 

"I  think,"  said  the  clerk,  "that  she  will  be  very 
glad  to  exchange  with  you,  and  pay  you  the  dif- 
ference. She  lives  not  far  from  here,  and  if  you 
will  wait  a  few  minutes,  I  will  send  and  see." 

So  the  clerk  called  a  commissioner  who  stood 
at  the  door,  and  after  giving  him  his  direction?) 
sent  him  away.  In  a  few  minutes  the  commis- 
sioner returned,  saying  that  the  lady  was  very 
glad  indeed  to  exchange.  He  brought  in  his 
hand  a  five  franc  piece  and  three  francs,  which 
was  the  difference  in  the  price  of  the  two  places. 
The  clerk  gave  this  money  to  Rollo,  and  altered 


Planning.  33 


What  Rollo  did  before  the  hour  for  starting. 


the  entry  on  his  books  so  as  to  put  the  lady  in 
the  coupe  and  Rollo  on  the  banquette.  Thus  the 
affair  was  all  arranged. 

Rollo  found  that  it  was  now  six  o'clock.  The 
diligence  was  not  to  set  out  until  half  past  seven  ; 
but  by  the  rules  of  the  service  the  passengers 
were  all  to  be  on  the  spot,  with  their  baggage, 
half  an  hour  before  the  time  ;  so  that  Rollo  knew 
that  his  father  and  mother  would  be  there  at 
seven. 

"  That  gives  me  just  an  hour,"  said  he  to  him- 
self ;  "  so  I  shall  have  plenty  of  time  to  go  and 
see  how  they  manage  fishing  with  that  big  net." 

He  accordingly  went  to  see  the  fishing,  but  was 
very  careful  to  return  some  minutes  before  the 
appointed  time. 

Rollo  had  a  very  pleasant  ride  that  night  to 
Geneva.  He  wrote  a  long  and  full  account  of  it 
afterwards,  and  sent  it  to  his  cousin  Lucy.  This 
letter  I  shall  give  in  the  next  chapter. 

The  reason  why  Rollo  wrote  so  long  an  ac- 
count of  his  journey  was  this  :  that  his  father 
required  him,  when  travelling,  to  spend  one  hour 
and  a  half  every  day  in  study  of  some  kind  ;  and 
writing  letters,  or  any  other  intellectual  occupa- 
tion that  was  calculated  to  advance  his  education, 
was  considered  as  study.  In  consequence  of  this 
arrangement.  Rollo  was  never  in  a  hurry  to  come 
8 


34  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Rollo  at  his  studies. 

to  the  end  of  his  letters,  for  he  liked  the  work  of 
writing  them  better  than  writing  French  exep 
cises,  or  working  on  arithmetic,  or  engaging  in 
any  of  the  other  avocations  which  devolved  upon 
him  when  he  had  no  letters  on  hand. 


The    Ride    to    Geneva. 


Hollo's  letter  to  his  cousin  Lucy. 


Chapter    III. 
The    Ride    to    Geneva. 

{  Dear  Lucy  : 

"  I  am  going  to  give  you  an  account  of  my  night 
ride  from  Lyons  to  Geneva. 

"  I  got  to  the  diligence  office  before  father  came, 
because  I  was  going  to  ride  up  in  the  bellows-top. 
I  call  it  the  bellows-top  so  that  you  may  under- 
stand it  better.  It  is  a  place  up  in  the  second 
story  of  the  diligence,  where  there  are  seats  foi 
four  persons,  and  a  great  bellows-top  over  theii 
heads,  i"  think  it  is  the  best  place,  though  peo- 
ple have  to  pay  more  for  the  coupe,  which  is  right 
under  it.  I  got  eight  francs,  which  is  more  than 
a  dollar  and  a  half,  for  exchanging  my  seat  in  the 
coupe  for  one  on  the  banquette.  I  exchanged 
with  a  lady.  I  suppose  she  did  not  like  to  climb 
up  the  ladder.  You  see  in  the  coupe  you  step 
right  in  as  you  would  into  a  carriage  ;  but  you 
have  to  go  up  quite  a  long  ladder  to  get  to  the 
banquette.  I  counted  the  steps.  There  were 
thirteen. 


36  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Packing  the  trunks  upon  the  diligence.  Hollo's  scat. 

"  When  I  got  to  the  office,  the  men  were  using 
the  ladder  to  put  up  the  baggage.  They  put  tho 
baggage  on  the  top  of  the  diligence,  along  the 
whole  length  of  it  behind  the  bellows- top.  They 
pack  it  all  in  very  closely,  beginning  immediately 
behind,  and  coming  regularly  forward,  as  far  as 
it  will  reach.  There  is  a  frame  over  it,  and  a 
great  leather  covering.  They  pull  the  covering 
forward  as  fast  as  they  get  the  trunks  packed, 
until  at  last  the  baggage  is  all  covered  over  as 
far  forward  as  to  the  back  of  the  bellows-top. 

"  The  men  were  using  the  ladders  when  I  came, 
getting  up  the  baggage  ;  so  I  climbed  up  by  the 
little  steps  that  are  made  on  the  side  of  the  dili- 
gence. I  liked  my  seat  very  much.  Before  me 
was  a  great  leather  boot.  The  boot  was  fastened 
to  an  iron  bar  that  went  across  in  front,  so  that 
it  did  not  come  against  my  knees.  Above  me 
was  the  bellows-top,  to  keep  off  the  rain.  Up 
under  the  roof  of  the  bellows-top  there  was  a 
sash  folded  together  and  fastened  up  by  straps. 
I  unfastened  one  of  the  straps,  and  saw  that  I 
could  let  down  the  sash  if  I  wished,  and  thus 
make  a  glass  window  in  front  of  me,  so  as  to 
shut  me  in  nicely  from  the  wind,  if  it  should 
grow  cold  in  the  night.  Behind  me  was  a  cur- 
tain. The  curtain  was  loose.  I  pushed  it  back, 
and  found  I  could  look  out  on  the  top  of  the  dil- 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.  37 


The  postilion's  seat.  Rollo's  oranges. 

igence  where  the  men  were  at  work  packing  the 
trunks  and  baggage.  The  men  wore  blue  frocks 
shaped  like  cartinen's  frocks.* 

"  Right  before  the  boot  was  the  postilion's  seat. 
It  was  a  little  lower  than  my  seat,  and  was  large 
enough  for  two.  The  conductor's  seat  was  at  the 
end  of  my  seat,  under  the  bellows-top.  There 
was  one  thing  curious  about  his  seat,  and  that  is, 
that  there  was  a  joint  in  the  iron  bar  of  the  boot, 
so  that  he  could  open  his  end  of  it,  and  get  out 
and  in  without  disturbing  the  boot  before  the 
rest  of  the  passengers.  When  I  wanted  to  get 
out  I  had  to  climb  over  the  boot  to  the  postilion's 
seat,  and  so  get  down  by  the  little  iron  steps. 

"  The  reason  I  wanted  to  get  down  was  so  as 
to  buy  some  oranges.  There  was  a  woman  down 
there  with  oranges  to  sell.  She  had  them  in  a 
basket.  I  thought  perhaps  that  I  might  be  thirsty 
in  the  night,  and  that  I  could  not  get  down  very 
well  to  get  a  drink  of  water.  So  I  climbed  down 
and  bought  four  oranges.  I  bought  one  for  my- 
self, and  two  to  give  father  and  mother,  and  one 
more  because  the  woman  looked  so  poor.  Re- 
sides, they  were  not  very  dear  —  only  fifteen  cen- 
times apiece.  It  takes  five  centimes  to  make  a 
sou,  and  a  sou  is  about  as  much  as  a  cent. 

*  Such  a  frock  is  called  a  blouse  —  pronounced  blooze.  Almost 
all  working  men  in  France  wear  them.  Hence  the  class  of  work- 
men in  France  are  sometimes  called  the  blouses 


38  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

The  passengers  take  their  plact«  in  the  diligence. 

"  When  I  had  bought  my  oranges  I  climbed  up 
into  my  place  again. 

"  There  were  several  people  beginning  to  come 
and  stand  about  the  door  of  the  bureau.  I  sup* 
pose  they  were  the  travellers.  Some  came  in 
cabs,  with  their  trunks  on  before  with  the  postil- 
ion. I  counted  up  how  many  the  diligence  would 
hold,  and  found  that  in  all,  including  the  two 
postilion's  seats,  and  the  conductor's,  that  there 
were  places  for  twenty-one.  But  when  we  started 
we  had  twenty-four  in  all.  Where  the  other  three 
sat  you  will  see  by  and  by.* 

"  As  fast  as  the  passengers  came  to  the  office, 
the  men  took  their  baggage  and  packed  it  with 
the  rest,  on  the  top  of  the  diligence,  and  the  pas- 
sengers themselves  stood  about  the  door,  waiting 
for  the  horses  to  be  put  in. 

"  Some  of  the  passengers  came  on  foot,  with 
commissioners  to  bring  their  baggage.  The  com- 
missioners carried  their  baggage  on  their  backs. 
They  had  a  frame  something  like  an  old-fashioned 
kitchen  chair  strapped  to  their  shoulders,  and  the 
baggage  was  piled  upon  this  very  high.  One 
commissioner  that  came  had  on  his  frame,  first  a 


*  The  diligence  is  very  large.  It  has  four  separate  compart- 
ments. For  a  more  full  account  of  the  construction  of  the  vehi- 
cle, and  for  one  or  two  engravings  representing  it,  see  Hollo's  Toui 
in  Switzerland. 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.  3^ 

Rollo's  signal  to  his  mother.  Harnessing  up. 

big  black  trunk,  placed  endwise,  and  then  a  port* 
manteau,  then  a  carpet  bag,  and  on  the  top  a 
bandbox.  The  bandbox  reached  far  above  hia 
head.  I  should  not  think  they  could  possibly 
carry  such  heavy  loads. 

"  Presently  I  saw  father  and  mother  coming  in 
a  cab.  So  I  climbed  down  to  meet  them.  The 
men  in  the  blouses  took  their  trunk  and  carried 
it  up  the  ladder,  and  then  I  opened  the  coupe 
door  for  them,  and  let  them  get  in.  I  told  mother 
that  my  place  was  exactly  over  her  head,  and  that 
I  was  then  going  to  climb  up  to  it,  and  that  when 
I  was  there  I  would  knock  on  the  floor,  and  she 
would  know  that  I  had  got  there  safely  :  and 
1  did. 

"  By  and  by  they  got  all  the  baggage  packed, 
and  they  pulled  the  great  leather  covering  over 
it,  and  fastened  it  to  the  back  of  the  bellows-top. 
Then  I  could  push  up  the  curtain  behind  me  and 
look  in  at  the  place  where  the  baggage  was 
stowed.  It  looked  like  a  garret.  It  was  not 
( uite  full.  There  was  room  for  several  more 
t  :unks  at  the  forward  end  of  it. 

"  Pretty  soon  after  this  they  brought  round  the 
horses  and  harnessed  them  in.  Then  the  clerk 
came  out  of  the  bureau  and  called  off  the  names 
of  the  passengers  from  his  list.  First  he  called 
the  names  of  those  who  were  to  go  in  the  coupe 
He  said,  in  a  loud  voice, — 


4u  Kollo    in    Geneva. 


Calling  the  roll.  The  three  passengers  that  sat  on  the  trunks. 


"  '  Monsieur  Holiday  and  Madame  Holiday  ! ' 

"  And  lie  looked  in  at  the  coupe  door,  and  father 
said,  'Here.' 

"Then  he  called  out,  — 

" '  Madame  Tournay  ! ' 

"That  was  the  name  of  the  lady  that  had 
changed  places  with  me.  So  she  got  into  tho 
coupe.     That  made  the  coupe  full. 

"  In  the  same  manner  the  clerk  called  off  the 
names  of  those  who  were  to  go  in  the  interior, 
which  is  the  centre  compartment.  The  interior 
holds  six. 

"  Then  he  called  off  the  names  of  those  that 
were  to  go  in  the  '  rotonde/  which  is  the  back 
compartment.  You  get  into  the  rotonde  by  a 
door  behind,  like  the  door  of  an  omnibus. 

"  Then  the  clerk  called  out  the  names  of  the 
people  that  were  to  come  up  to  the  banquette 
with  me.  There  were  six  of  them,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  only  room  for  three.  So  I  could 
not  imagine  where  they  were  all  going  to  sit. 
They  came  in  a  row,  one  behind  the  other,  up  the 
ladder.  Yery  soon  I  saw  how  they  were  going 
to  sit ;  for  the  three  that  came  first  — a  man  and 
woman  and  a  girl  — when  they  came  into  the 
banquette,  pushed  up  the  curtain  at  the  back  side 
of  it,  and  so  climbed  in  behind  to  the  garret, 
and  sat  on  the  trunks.     When  the  curtain  was 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.  41 

Postilion  driving.  The  conductor  climbing  into  his  seat. 

down,  after  they  were  in,  they  were  all  in  the 
dark  there. 

"  However,  pretty  soon  they  contrived  to  fasten 
up  the  curtain,  and  then  they  could  see  out  a  little 
over  our  shoulders.  The  girl  sat  directly  behind 
me.  I  asked  her  if  she  could  see,  and  she  said 
she  could,  very  well. 

u  The  postilion  then  climbed  up,  with  the  reins 
in  his  hand,  and  called  out  to  the  horses  to  start 
on.  He  talked  to  his  horses  in  French,  and  they 
seemed  to  understand  him  very  well.  The  great 
thing,  though,  was  cracking  his  whip.  You  can 
scarcely  conceive  how  fast  and  loud  he  cracked 
his  whip,  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other, 
till  the  whole  court  rang  again.  The  horses 
sprang  forward  and  trotted  off  at  great  speed 
out  of  the  place,  and  wheeled  round  the  corner 
to  the  quay  ;  and  while  they  were  going,  the  con- 
ductor came  climbing  up  the  side  of  the  coach  to 
his  place. 

"  The  conductor  never  gets  into  his  place  before 
the  diligence  starts.  He  waits  till  the  horses  set 
out,  and  then  jumps  on  to  the  step,  and  so  climbs 
up  the  side  while  the  horses  are  going. 

"  A  diligence  is  a  monstrous  great  machine ; 
and  when  it  sets  out  on  a  journey  in  a  city,  the 
rumbling  of  the  wheels  on  the  pavement,  and  the 
clattering  of  the  horses'  feet,  and  the  continuaJ 


42  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Rollo's  account  of  the  diligence.  Crossing  the  River  Rhone. 

cracking  of  the  coachman's  whip,  and  the  echoes 
of  all  these  sounds  on  the  walls  of  the  buildings, 
make  a  wonderful  noise  and  din,  and  every  body, 
when  the  diligence  is  coming,  hurries  to  get  out 
of  the  way.  Indeed,  I  believe  the  coachman 
likes  to  make  all  the  noise  he  can  ;  for  he  has 
sleigh  bells  on  the  harness,  and,  besides  cracking 
his  whip,  he  keeps  continually  shouting  out  to  the 
horses  and  the  teamsters  on  the  road  before  him  ; 
and  whenever  he  is  passing  through  a  town  or  a 
village  he  does  all  this  more  than  any  where  else, 
because,  as  I  suppose,  there  are  more  people  there 
to  hear  him. 

"  Presently,  after  driving  along  the  quay  a  lit- 
tle way,  we  turned  off  to  one  of  the  great  stone 
bridges  that  lead  across  the  Rhone.  We  went 
over  this  bridge  in  splendid  style.  I  could  see 
far  up  and  down  the  river,  and  trains  of  wagons 
and  multitudes  of  people  going  and  coming  on 
the  other  bridges.  The  water  in  the  river  was 
running  very  swift.  There  were  some  boats  along 
the  shore,  but  I  don't  see  how  the  people  could 
dare  to  venture  out  in  them  in  such  a  current. 

"  As  soon  as  we  had  got  over  the  bridge,  we 
itruck  into  a  beautiful  road  across  the  country, 
and  the  postilion  cracked  on  faster  and  harder 
than  ever.  We  had  five  horses,  three  abreast 
before,  and  two  behind.     They  went  upon  the 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.  48 

The  postilion's  whip.  The  road.  French  villages. 

gallop,  and  the  postilion  kept  cracking  his  whip 
about  them  and  over  their  ears  all  the  time.  I 
thought  for  a  while  that  he  was  whipping  them  ; 
but  when  I  leaned  forward,  so  that  I  could  look 
down  and  see,  I  found  that  he  did  not  touch  them 
with  his  whip  at  all,  but  only  cracked  the  snap- 
per about  them,  and  shouted  at  them  in  French, 
to  make  them  go.  The  road  was  as  hard  and 
smooth  as  a  floor,  and  it  was  almost  as  white  as  a 
floor  of  marble. 

"The  country  was  very  beautiful  as  long  as 
we  could  see.  There  were  no  fences,  but  there 
were  beautiful  fields  on  each  side  of  the  road, 
divided  into  squares,  like  the  beds  of  a  garden, 
with  all  sorts  of  things  growing  in  them. 

"  Every  now  and  then  we  came  to  a  village. 
These  villages  were  the  queerest  looking  places 
that  you  can  imagine.  They  were  formed  of 
rows  of  stone  houses,  close  to  each  other  and 
close  to  the  street.  They  were  so  close  to  the 
street,  and  the  street  was  usually  so  narrow,  that 
there  was  scarcely  room  sometimes  to  pass  through. 
I  could  almost  shake  hands  with  the  people  look- 
ing out  the  second  story  windows.  I  cannot 
imagine  why  they  should  leave  the  passage  so 
narrow  between  the  houses  on  such  a  great  road. 
If  there  were  any  people  in  the  street  of  the  vil- 
lage when  we  went  through,  they  had  to  back  up 


44  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

When  it  grew  dark  the  conductor  lighted  the  lanterns. 

against  the  wall  when  we  passed  them,  to  prevent 
beins:  knocked  down. 

"  When  we  were  going  through  any  of  these 
villages,  the  postilion  drove  faster  than  ever. 
He  would  crack  his  whip,  and  cheer  on  his  horses, 
and  make  noise  and  uproar  enough  to  frighten 
half  the  town. 

"  "We  went  on  in  this  way  till  it  began  to  grow 
dark.  The  postilion  handed  the  lanterns  up  to 
the  conductor,  and  he  lighted  them  with  some 
matches  that  he  carried  in  his  pocket.  The  lan- 
terns had  reflectors  in  the  back  of  them,  and  were 
very  bright.  When  the  postilion  put  them  back 
in  their  places  on  the  front  of  the  coach,  the  light 
shone  down  on  the  road  before  us,  so  that  the 
way  where  the  horses  were  going  was  as  bright 
as  day. 

"  After  a  time  the  moon  rose,  and  that  made  it 
pretty  bright  every  where.  Still  I  could  not  see 
very  far,  and  as  the  people  around  me  were  talk- 
ing, I  listened  to  what  they  were  saying.  The 
conductor  was  telling  stories  about  diligences 
that  had  been  robbed.  He  said  that  once,  when 
he  was  travelling  somewhere,  the  diligence  was 
attacked  by  robbers,  and  he  was  shot  by  one  of 
them.  He  was  shot  in  the  neck  ;  and  he  had  to 
keep  in  his  bed  six  months  before  he  got  well.  I 
listened  a°  well  as  I  could,  but  the  diligence  made 


J2j_"?  GOING  THROUGH  THE  VILLAGE. 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.  47 

The  story  of  the  conductor  about  the  robbers.  Changing  horses. 

such  a  noise  that  I  could  not  understand  all  he 
said,  and  I  did  not  hear  where  it  was  that  this 
happened.  I  suppose  it  was  probably  in  Italy, 
for  I  have  heard  that  there  were  a  great  many 
robbers  there. 

"  After  a  while  I  began  to  feel  sleepy.  I  don't 
remember  going  to  sleep,  for  the  first  thing  I 
knew  after  I  began  to  feel  sleepy  was  that  I  was 
waking  up.  We  were  stopping  to  change  horses. 
We  stopped  to  change  horses  very  often— oftener 
than  once  an  hour.  When  we  changed  horses  we 
always  changed  the  postilion  too.  A  new  postil- 
ion always  came  with  every  new  team.  It  was 
only  the  conductor  that  we  did  not  change.  He 
went  with  us  all  the  way. 

"  We  changed  horses  usually  in  a  village  ;  and 
it  was  very  curious  to  see  what  queer-looking 
hostlers  and  stable  boys  came  out  with  the  new 
teams.  Generally  the  hostlers  were  all  ready, 
waiting  for  the  diligence  to  come  ;  but  sometimes 
they  would  be  all  asleep,  and  the  conductor  and 
the  postilion  would  make  a  great  shouting  and 
uproar  in  waking  them  up. 

"  When  the  new  team  was  harnessed  in,  the 
new  postilion  would  climb  up  to  his  seat,  with 
the  reins  in  his  hands,  and,  without  waiting  a 
moment,  he  would  start  the  horses  on  at  full 
speed,  leaving  the  poor  conductor  to  get  on  th^ 


48  R o l l o    in    Geneva.' 

Sometimes  the  diligence  had  four  Worses,  sometimes  six  or  seven. 

best  way  he  could.  By  the  time  the  hovses  began 
to  go  on  the  gallop,  the  conductor  would  come 
climbing  up  the  side  of  the  coach  into  his  place. 

"  It  was  curious  to  see  how  different  the  dif- 
ferent teams  were  in  regard  to  the  number  of 
horses.  Sometimes  we  had  four  horses,  some- 
times five,  and  once  we  had  seven.  For  a  long 
time  I  could  not  tell  what  the  reason  was  for 
such  a  difference.  But  at  last  I  found  out. 
It  was  because  some  of  the  stages  were  pretty 
nearly  level,  and  others  were  almost  all  up  hill. 
Of  course,  where  there  was  a  great  deal  of  up 
hill  they  required  more  horses.  At  the  time 
when  they  put  on  seven  horses  I  knew  that  we 
had  come  to  a  place  where  it  was  almost  all  up 
hill ;  and  it  was.  The  road  went  winding  around 
through  a  region  of  hills  and  valleys,  but  ascend- 
ing all  the  time.  Still  the  road  was  so  hard  and 
smooth,  and  the  horses  were  so  full  of  life,  that 
we  went  on  the  full  trot  the  whole  way.  Four 
horses  could  not  have  done  this,  though,  with 
such  a  heavy  load.     It  took  seven. 

"  In  almost  all  the  villages  we  came  to  we  saw 
long  lines  of  wagons  by  the  road  side.  They 
were  very  curious  wagons  indeed.  They  were 
small.  Each  one  was  to  be  drawn  by  one  horse. 
There  was  no  body  to  them,  but  only  two  long 
poles  going  from  the  forward  axletree  to  +.he 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.  49 

The  trains  of  wagons.  One  teamster  to  six  teams 

back  axletree  ;  and  the  load  was  packed  on  these 
poles,  and  covered  with  canvas.  It  looked  just 
like  a  big  bundle  tied  up  in  a  cloth.  These  were 
wagons  that  had  stopped  for  the  night.  After- 
wards, when  the  morning  came,  we  overtook  a 
great  many  trains  of  these  wagons,  on  the  road 
to  Geneva.  They  were  loaded  with  merchandise 
going  from  France  into  Switzerland.  There  was 
only  one  driver  to  the  whole  train.  He  went 
along  with  the  front  wagon,  and  all  the  rest  fol- 
lowed on  in  a  line.  The  horses  were  trained  to 
follow  in  this  way.  Thus  one  man  could  take 
charge  of  a  train  of  six  or  eight  wagons. 

"  There  was  one  very  curious  thing  in  the 
arrangement,  and  that  was,  that  the  last  horse  in 
the  train  had  a  bell  on  his  neck,  something  like  a 
cow  bell.  This  was  to  prevent  the  driver  from 
having  to  look  round  continually  to  see  whether 
the  rest  of  the  horses  were  coming  or  not.  As 
long  as  he  could  hear  the  bell  on  the  last  one's 
neck  he  knew  they  were  all  coming  ;  for  none  of 
the  middle  ones  could  stop  without  stopping  all 
behind  them. 

"  I  suppose  that  sometimes  some  of  the  horses 
in  the  train  would  stop  ;  then  the  driver  would 
observe  that  the  bell  ceased  to  ring,  and  he  would 
stop  his  own  wagon,  and  go  back  to  see  what  was 
the  matter.  If  he  found  that  anv  of  them  stopped 
4 


60  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

The  use  of  the  bell  on  the  horse.  Rollo's  expedient. 

to  eat  grass  by  the  way,  or  because  they  were 
lazy,  he  would  give  them  a  whipping,  and  start 
them  on,  and  that  would  teach  them  to  keep 
marching  on  the  next  time. 

"I  know  what  I  would  do  if  I  were  the  last 
horse.  Whenever  I  wanted  to  stop  and  rest  I 
would  keep  shaking  my  head  all  the  time,  and 
that  would  make  the  driver  think  that  I  was  com- 
ing along. 

"  One  time,  when  we  were  stopping  to  change 
horses,  I  heard  some  one  below  me  calling  to  me, 

"  '  Rollo  ! ' 

"  I  believe  I  was  asleep  at  that  time,  and  dream- 
ing about  something,  though  I  don't  remember 
what  it  was.  I  started  up  and  reached  out  aa 
far  as  I  could  over  the  boot,  and  looked  down. 
I  found  it  was  my  mother  calling  to  me. 

"  '  Rollo,'  says  she,  '  how  do  you  get  along  ?  ' 

" '  Very  nicely  indeed,  mother/  says  I ;  '  and 
how  do  you  get  along  ? ' 

"  '  Very  well,'  says  she. 

"  Just  then  I  happened  to  think  of  my  oranges  ; 
so  I  asked  mother  if  she  was  not  thirsty,  and  she 
said  she  was  a  little  thirsty,  but  she  did  not  see 
how  she  could  get  any  drink  until  the  morning, 
for  the  houses  were  all  shut  up,  and  the  people 
were  in  bed  and  asleep.  So  I  told  her  that  I 
had  an  orange  for  her  and  for  father.  She  said 
she  was  very  glad  indeed. 


The    Ride   to    Geneva.  51 

Kollo  lowers  an  orange  into  the  coup6  for  his  mother. 

"  I  could  not  get  down  very  well  to  give  the 
oranges  to  her,  so  I  put  them  in  my  little  knap- 
sack, and  let  them  down  by  a  string.  I  had  the 
string  in  my  pocket. 

"  Mother  took  the  oranges  out  of  the  knapsack, 
and  then  I  pulled  it  up  again.  I  told  her  that  I 
had  plenty  more  for  myself. 

"  Father  cut  a  hole  in  one  of  the  oranges  that 
I  sent  down  to  mother,  and  then  she  squeezed 
the  juice  of  it  out  into  her  mouth.  She  said 
afterwards  that  I  could  not  conceive  how 
much  it  refreshed  her.  I  don't  think  she  could 
conceive  how  glad  I  was  that  I  had  bought  it 
for  her. 

"  A  little  while  after  sunrise  we  came  to  a  vil- 
lage where  we  were  going  to  change  horses,  and 
the  conductor  said  that  we  should  stop  long 
enough  to  go  into  the  inn  if  we  pleased,  and  get 
some  coffee.  So  father  and  mother  got  out  of 
the  coupe,  and  went  in.  I  climbed  down  from 
my  place,  and  went  with  them.  Mother  said  she 
went  in  more  to  see  what  sort  of  a  place  the  inn 
was  than  for  the  sake  of  the  coffee. 

"  It  was  a  very  funny  place.  The  floor  was  of 
stone.  There  was  one  table,  with  cups  on  it  for 
coffee,  and  plates,  and  bread  and  butter.  The 
loaves  of  bread  were  shaped  like  a  man's  arm  — 
about  as  big  round,  and  a  good  deal  longer.   The 


52  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

After  breakfast  the  travellers  start  again. 

coffee  was  very  good  indeed,  on  account  of  there 
being  plenty  of  hot  milk  to  put  into  it. 

"  After  we  had  had  our  breakfast  we  went  on, 
and  the  rest  of  our  ride  was  through  a  most  mag- 
nificent country.  There  was  a  long,  winding 
valley,  with  beautiful  hills  and  mountains  on  each 
side,  and  a  deep  chasm  in  the  middle,  with  the 
River  Rhone  roaring  and  tumbling  over  the 
stones  down  at  the  bottom  of  it.  The  road  went 
wheeling  on  down  long  slopes,  and  around  the 
hills  and  promontories,  with  beautiful  green  swells 
of  land  above  it  and  below  it.  The  horses  went 
upon  the  run.  The  postilion  had  a  little  handle 
close  by  his  seat — a  sort  of  crank  —  that  he 
could  turn  round  and  round,  and  so  bring  a 
brake  to  bear  against  the  wheels,  and  thus  help 
to  hold  the  carriage  back.  When  he  began  to  go 
down  a  slope  he  would  turn  this  crank  round  and 
round  as  fast  as  he  could,  till  it  was  screwed  up 
tight,  cheering  the  horses  on  all  the  time ;  and 
then  he  would  take  his  whip  and  crack  it  about 
their  ears,  and  so  we  go  down  the  hills,  and  wheel 
round  the  great  curves,  almost  on  the  run,  and 
could  look  down  on  the  fields  and  meadows  and 
houses  in  the  valley,  a  thousand  feet  below  us. 
It  was  the  grandest  ride  I  ever  had. 

"But  I  have  been  so  long  writing  this  letter 
that  I  am  beginning  to  be  tired  of  it,  though  1 


The    Ride   to    Geneva 


A  postscript.  The  fortifications  upon  the  road. 

have  not  got  yet  to  Geneva ;  so  I  am  going  to 
stop  now.  The  rest  I  will  tell  you  when  I  see 
you.  Your  affectionate  cousin, 

11  ROLLO." 

"P.  S.  There  is  one  thing  more  that  I  will 
tell  you,  and  that  is,  that  we  went  through  a 
castle  at  one  place  in  the  valley.  It  was  a  castle 
built  by  the  French  to  guard  their  frontier.  In- 
deed, there  were  two  castles.  The  road  passes 
directly  through  one  of  them,  and  the  other  is 
high  up  on  the  rocks  exactly  above  it.  The  val- 
ley is  so  narrow,  and  the  banks  are  so  steep,  that 
there  is  no  other  possible  place  for  the  road  ex- 
cept through  the  lower  castle.  The  road  has  to 
twist  and  twine  about,  too,  just  before  it  comes 
to  the  castle  gates,  and  after  it  goes  away  from 
them  on  the  other  side,  so  that  every  thing  that 
passes  along  has  some  guns  or  other  pointing  at 
them  from  the  castle  for  more  than  a  mile.  I 
don't  see  how  any  enemy  could  possibly  get  into 
France  this  way. 

"  There  was  also  a  place  where  the  Rhone  goes 
under  ground,  or,  rather,  under  the  rocks,  and  so 
loses  itself  for  a  time,  and  then  after  a  while 
comes  out  again.  It  is  a  place  where  the  river 
runs  along  in  the  bottom  of  a  very  deep  and 
rocky  chasm,  and  the  rocks  have  fallen  dow 


54 


Rollo  in   Geneva 


The  place  where  the  River  Rhone  disappears. 

from  above,  so  as  to  fill  up  the  chasm  from  one 
side  to  the  other,  and  all  the  water  gets  through 
underneath  them.  We  looked  down  into  the 
chasm  as  the  diligence  went  by,  and  saw  the 
water  tumbling  over  the  rocks  just  above  the 
place  where  it  goes  down.  I  should  have  liked 
to  stop,,  and  to  climb  down  there  and  see  the 
place,  but  I  knew  that  the  diligence  would  not 
wait." 


The    Town.  55 


Tho  pass  through  the  mountains 


Chapter    IV. 
The   T  own. 

The  valley  described  by  Rollo  in  his  letter  to 
Lucy,  contained  in  the  last  chapter,  is  indeed  a 
very  remarkable  pass.  The  Romans  travelled  it 
nearly  two  thousand  years  ago,  in  going  from 
Italy  to  France,  or,  as  they  called  it,  Gaul.  Cae- 
sar describes  the  country  in  his  Commentaries  ; 
and  from  that  day  to  this  it  has  been  cne  of  the 
greatest  thoroughfares  of  Europe. 

The  valley  is  very  tortuous,  and  in  some  places 
it  is  very  narrow  ;  and  the  road  runs  along 
through  it  like  a  white  thread,  suspended,  as  it 
were,  half  way  between  the  lofty  summits  of  the 
mountains  and  the  roaring  torrent  of  the  Rhone 
in  the  deep  abyss  below. 

After  emerging  from  this  narrow  pass,  the  road 
comes  out  into  an  open  country,  which  is  as  fer- 
tile and  beautiful,  and  as  richly  adorned  with 
hamlets,  villas,  parks,  gardens,  and  smiling  fields 
of  corn  and  grain,  as  any  country  in  the  world. 
At  length,  on  coming  over  the  summit  of  a  gentle 


56  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

The  Alps  in  view.  Mont  Blanc  all  uncovered. 

swell  of  land,  that  rises  in  the  midst  of  this  par 
adise,  the  great  chain  of  the  Alps,  with  the  snowj; 
peak  of  Mont  Blanc  crowning  it  with  its  glitter- 
ing canopy  of  snow,  comes  suddenly  into  view. 

"  Look  there ! "  said  the  conductor  to  the  com- 
pany on  the  banquette.  "  See  there !  the  Mont 
Blanc,  all  uncovered !  n 

The  French  always  call  Mont  Blanc  the  Mont 
Blanc,  and  for  all  clear  and  in  plain  view  they  say 
all  uncovered. 

It  is  calculated  that  there  are  only  about  sixty 
days  in  the  year,  upon  an  average,  when  Mont 
Blanc  appears  with  his  head  uncovered.  They, 
therefore,  whose  coming  into  Switzerland  he  hon- 
ors by  taking  off  his  cap,  have  reason  greatly  to 
rejoice  in  their  good  fortune. 

Kollo  had  seen  snow-covered  mountains  shining 
in  the  sun  before  ;  but  he  was  greatly  delighted 
with  this  new  view  of  them.  There  is  indeed 
a  peculiar  charm  in  the  sight  of  these  eternal 
snows,  especially  when  we  see  them  basking,  as 
it  were,  in  the  rays  of  a  warm  summer's  sun,  that 
is  wholly  indescribable.  The  sublime  and  thrill- 
ing grandeur  of  the  spectacle  no  pen  or  pencil 
can  portray. 

After  passing  over  the  hill,  and  descending  into 
the  valley  again,  the  company  in  the  diligence 
came  soon  in  sight  of  the  environs  of  Geneva 


The    Town.  59 

Coming  into  Geneva.  Making  a  sensation.  The  quay. 

They  passed  by  a  great  many  charming  country 
seats,  with  neat  walls  of  masonry  bordering  the 
gardens,  and  wide  gateways  opening  into  pretty 
courts,  and  little  green  lawns  surrounding  the 
chateaux.  At  length  the  diligence  came  thunder- 
ing down  a  narrow  paved  street  into  the  town. 
Every  thing  made  haste  to  get  out  of  the  way. 
The  postilion  cracked  his  whip,  and  cheered  on 
his  horses,  and  shouted  out  to  the  cartmen  and 
footmen  before  him  to  clear  the  way,  and  made 
generally  as  much  noise  and  uproar  as  possible, 
as  if  the  glory  of  a  diligence  consisted  in  the 
noise  it  made,  and  the  sensation  it  produced  in 
coming  into  town. 

At  length  the  immense  vehicle  wheeled  round 
a  corner,  and  came  out  upon  a  broad  and  beauti- 
ful quay.  The  quay  had  a  range  of  very  elegant 
and  palace-like  looking  houses  and  hotels  on  one 
side,  and  the  water  of  the  lake  —  exceedingly 
clear,  and  bright,  and  blue  —  on  the  other.  The 
place  was  at  the  point  where  the  water  of  the 
lake  was  just  beginning  to  draw  in  towards  the 
outlet ;  so  that  there  was  a  pretty  swift  current. 

The  engraving  represents  the  scene.  In  the 
foreground  we  see  the  broad  quay,  with  the  build- 
ings on  one  side,  and  the  low  parapet  wall  sepa- 
rating it  from  the  water  on  the  other.  In  the 
middle  distance  we  see  the  diligence  just  coming 


60  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

The  island  promenade  in  the  Lake  of  Geneva. 

out  upon  the  quay  from  the  street  by  which  it 
came  into  the  town.  A  little  farther  on  we  see 
the  bridge  by  which  the  diligence  will  pass  across 
to  the  other  side  of  the  river — the  diligence 
offices  being  situated  in  the  row  of  buildings  that 
we  see  on  the  farther  side.  This  bridge  is  not 
straight.  There  is  an  angle  in  it  at  the  centre. 
From  the  apex  of  this  angle  there  is  a  branch 
bridge  which  goes  out  to  a  little  island  in  the 
lake.  This  island  is  arranged  as  a  promenade, 
and  is  a  great  place  of  resort  for  the  people  of 
Geneva.  There  are  walks  through  it  and  all 
around  it,  and  seats  under  the  trees,  and  a  para- 
pet wall  or  railing  encircling  the  margin  of  it,  to 
prevent  children  from  falling  into  the  water. 

As  the  diligence  rolled  along  the  quay,  and 
turned  to  go  over  the  bridge,  Rollo  could  look 
out  in  one  direction  over  the  broad  surface  of 
the  lake,  which  was  seen  extending  for  many 
miles,  bordered  by  gently  sloping  shores  coming 
down  to  the  water.  On  the  other  side  the  cur- 
rent was  seen  rapidly  converging  and  flowing 
swiftly  under  another  bridge,  and  thence  directly 
through  the  very  heart  of  the  town. 

The  diligence  went  over  the  bridge.  While  it 
was  going  over,  Rollo  looked  out  first  one  way,, 
towards  the  lake,  and  then  the  other  way,  dowi) 
the  river.     On  the  lake  side  there  was  a  steap 


The    Town.  61 

What  Hollo  observed  on  the  lake  and  the  river. 

boat  coming  in.  She  was  crowded  with  passen- 
gers, and  the  quay  at  the  other  end  of  the  bridge, 
where  the  steamer  was  going  to  land,  was  crowd- 
ed with  people  waiting  to  see. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  bridge,  that  is,  look- 
ing down  the  stream,  Rollo  saw  a  deep  blue  river 
running  more  and  more  swiftly  as  it  grew  nar- 
rower. There  were  several  other  bridges  in 
sight,  and  an  island  also,  which  stood  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  stream,  and  was  covered  with  tall  and 
ancient-looking  buildings.  These  buildings  in- 
deed more  than  covered  the  original  island  ;  they 
extended  out  over  the  water  —  the  outer  walls 
seeming  to  rest  on  piles,  between  and  around 
which  the  water  flowed  with  the  utmost  impetu- 
osity. The  banks  of  the  river  on  each  side  were 
walled  up,  and  there  were  streets  or  platform 
walks  along  the  margin,  between  the  houses  and 
the  water.  There  were  a  great  many  bridges, 
some  wide  and  some  narrow,  leading  across  from 
one  bank  to  the  other,  and  from  each  bank  to  the 
island  between. 

The  diligence  passed  on  so  rapidly  that  Rollo 
had  very  little  opportunity  to  see  these  things  ; 
but  he  resolved  that  as  soon  as  they  got  estab- 
lished in  the  hotel  he  would  come  out  and  take  a 
walk,  and  explore  all  those  bridges. 

"  It  is  just  such  a  town  as  I  like,''  said  he  to 


62  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

Why  Rollo  liked  Geneva.  Disembarking  from  the  diligence. 

himself.  ;'A  swift  river  running  through  the 
middle  of  it  —  water  as  clear  as  a  bell  —  plenty 
of  foot  bridges  down  very  near  to  the  water,  and 
ever  so  many  little  platforms  and  sidewalks  along 
the  margin,  where  you  can  stand  and  fish  over 
the  railings." 

In  the  mean  time  the  diligence  went  thunder- 
ing on  over  the  bridge,  and  then  drove  along  the 
quay,  on  the  farther  side,  past  one  office  after 
another,  until  it  came  to  its  own.  Here  the 
horses  were  reined  in,  and  the  great  machine 
came  to  a  stand.  The  doors  of  the  lower  com- 
partments were  opened,  and  the  passengers  began 
to  get  out.  Two  ladders  were  placed  against 
the  side,  one  for  the  passengers  on  the  banquette 
to  get  down  by,  and  the  other  to  enable  the 
blouses  that  stood  waiting  there  to  uncover  and 
get  down  the  baggage.  Rollo  did  not  wait  for 
his  turn  at  the  ladder,  but  climbed  down  the  side 
of  the  coach  by  means  of  any  projecting  irons  or 
steps  that  he  could  find  to  cling  to. 

"  Now,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  the  hotel  is 
pretty  near,  and  we  are  going  to  walk  there.  I 
am  going  to  leave  you  here  to  select  out  our  bag- 
gage, when  they  get  it  down,  and  to  bring  it 
along  by  means  of  a  porter." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  should  like  to  do 
that.     But  what  hotel  is  it  ?  " 


The   Town. 


63 


The  travellers  go  to  the  hotel. 


•;  The  Hotel  de  PEcu,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

So  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  walked  along  tne 
pier  to  the  hotel,  leaving  Rollo  to  engage  a  por- 
ter and  to  follow  in  due  time. 

The  porter  carried  the  baggage  on  his  back,  by 
means  of  a  frame,  such  as  has  been  already  de- 
scribed. Rollo  followed  him,  and  thus  he  arrived 
at  last  safely  at  the  hotel. 


t  Liiiikkni 


64  Rollo    in    Geneva. 


The  Swiss  hotels  are  planned  for  the  use  of  pleasure  parties. 


Chapter  V. 
The    Hotel. 

One  of  the  greatest  sources  of  interest  and 
pleasure  for  travellers  who  visit  Switzerland  and 
the  Alps  for  the  first  time,  especially  if  they  are 
travellers  from  America,  is  the  novelty  of  the 
arrangements  and  usages  of  the  hotels. 

One  reason  why  every  thing  is  so  different  in  a 
Swiss  hotel  from  what  we  witness  in  America  is, 
that  all  the  arrangements  are  made  to  accommo- 
date parties  travelling  for  pleasure.  Every  thing 
is  planned,  therefore,  with  a  view  of  making  the 
hotel  as  attractive  and  agreeable  to  the  guests  as 
possible. 

The  Hotel  de  l'Ecu,  where  our  party  have  now 
arrived,  is  very  pleasantly  situated  on  the  quay 
facing  the  lake.  It  stands  near  the  further  end 
of  the  bridge,  as  seen  in  the  engraving  on  page 
58.  It  is  the  building  where  you  see  the  flag 
flying. 

Indeed,  all  the  principal  hotels  in  Geneva  are 
situated  on  the  quay.     Quite  a  number  of  the 


The    Hotel.  65 

The  beautiful  prospects.  Gardeus,  terraces,  and  observatories. 

large  and  handsome  edifices  which  you  see  in  the 
engraving,  on  both  sides  the  water,  are  hotels. 
The  hotel  keepers  know  very  well  that  most  of 
the  travellers  that  come  to  Switzerland  come  not 
on  business,  but  to  see  the  lakes,  and  mountains, 
and  other  grand  scenery  of  their  country.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  almost  every  place,  the  situation 
chosen  for  the  hotels  is  the  one  which  commands 
the  prettiest  views. 

Then,  in  arranging  the  interior  of  the  house, 
they  always  place  the  public  apartments,  such  as 
the  breakfast  and  dining  rooms,  and  the  reading 
room,  in  the  pleasantest  part  of  it ;  and  they  have 
large  windows  opening  down  to  the  floor,  and 
pretty  little  tables  in  the  recesses  of  them,  so  that 
while  you  are  eating  your  breakfast  or  reading 
the  newspapers  you  have  only  to  raise  your  eyes 
and  look  out  upon  the  most  charming  prospects 
that  the  town  affords. 

Then,  besides  this,  they  have  gardens,  and  sum- 
mer houses,  and  raised  terraces,  overlooking  roads, 
or  rivers,  or  beautiful  valleys,  and  little  observa- 
tories, and  many  other  such  contrivances  to  add  to 
the  charms  of  the  hotel,  and  make  the  traveller's 
residence  in  it  more  agreeable. 

They  hope  in  this  way  to  induce  the  traveller 
to  prolong  his  stay  at  their  house.  And  it  has 
the  intended  effect.   Indeed,  at  almost  every  hotel 


66  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

What  the  travellers  say  when  they  arrive  at  a  new  place. 

where  a  party  of  travellers  arrive,  in  a  new  town, 
their  first  feeling  almost  always  is,  that  they  shall 
wish  to  remain  there  a  week. 

What  a  pleasant  place !  they  say  to  each  other  ; 
and  what  a  beautiful  room !  Look  at  the  moun- 
tains !  Look  at  the  torrent  pouring  through  the 
valley !  What  a  pretty  garden !  And  this  ter- 
race, where  we  may  sit  in  the  evening,  and  have 
our  tea,  and  watch  the  people  across  the  valley, 
going  up  and  down  the  mountain  paths.  I  should 
like  to  stay  here  all  summer. 

Then  the  next  place  where  they  stop  may  be 
on  a  lake  ;  and  there,  when  they  go  to  the  win- 
dow of  their  rooms,  or  of  the  breakfast  room, 
they  look  out  and  say,  — 

Ah!  see  what  a  beautiful  view  of  the  lake! 
How  blue  the  water  is !  See  the  sail  boats  and 
the  row  boats  going  to  and  fro.  And  down  the 
lake,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  there  is  a  steamer  com- 
ing. I  see  the  smoke.  And  beyond,  what  a 
magnificent  range  of  mountains,  the  tops  all  cov- 
ered with  glaciers  and  snow ! 

When  Rollo  entered  the  hotel  at  Geneva,  he 
found  himself  ushered  first  into  a  large,  open 
apartment,  which  occupied  the  whole  centre  of 
the  building,  and  extended  up  through  all  the 
stories,  and  was  covered  with  a  glass  roof  above. 
There  were  galleries  all  around  this  apartment, 


The    Hotel.  67 

A  description  of  the  Hotel  de  l'Ecu. 

in  the  different  stories.  Doors  from  these  gal 
leries,  on  the  back  sides  of  them,  led  to  the  vari 
ous  rooms,  while  on  the  front  sides  were  railings, 
where  you  could  stand  and  look  down  to  the  floor 
below,  and  see  the  travellers  coming  and  going. 

At  one  end  of  this  hall  was  a  winding  stair- 
case, with  broad  and  easy  stone  steps.  This 
staircase  ascended  from  story  to  story,  and  com- 
municated by  proper  landings  with  the  galleries 
of  the  several  floors. 

This  hall,  though  it  was  thus  very  puoiic  in  its 
character,  was  very  prettily  arranged.  The  gal- 
leries which  opened  upon  it  on  the  different  stories 
were  adorned  with  balconies,  and  the  walls  of  it 
were  hung  with  maps  and  pictures  of  Alpine  sce- 
nery, pretty  engravings  of  hotels  standing  in  pic- 
turesque spots  on  the  margins  of  lakes,  or  on  the 
banks  of  running  streams,  or  hidden  away  in 
some  shady  glen,  in  the  midst  of  stupendous 
mountains.  Then,  besides  these  pictures,  the  hall 
was  adorned  with  statues,  and  vases  of  flowers ; 
and  there  was  a  neat  little  table,  with  writing 
materials  and  the  visitor's  book  upon  it,  and  vari- 
ous other  fixtures  and  contrivances  to  give  the 
place  an  agreeable  and  home-like  air. 

As  Rollo  came  into  the  hall,  accompanied  by 
the  porter,  a  clerk  came  out  to  meet  him  from  a 
little  office  on  one  side,  and  told  him  that  hi? 


68  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

The  prospect  from  Mrs.  Holiday's  window. 

father  and  mother  were  in  their  room ;  and  he 
sent  a  messenger  to  show  Rollo  and  the  porter 
the  way  to  it. 

Eollo  accordingly  followed  the  messenger  and 
ihe  porter  up  stairs,  and  was  ushered  into  a  very 
pleasant  room  on  the  second  story,  looking  out 
upon  the  lake  and  the  river.  Rollo  went  imme- 
diately to  the  window.  His  mother  was  sitting 
at  the  window  when  he  entered  the  room. 

"  This  is  a  pretty  window,  Rollo,"  said  she ; 
"  come  and  look  out. 

"  See  how  many  bridges !  "  said  she,  when  Rollo 
had  come  to  her  side. 

"  And  how  swift  the  water  runs  under  them ! " 
said  Rollo. 

"  There  are  some  boys  fishing,"  said  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo;  "I  should  think  there 
would  be  plenty  of  trout  in  such  a  river  as  thi3. 
it  runs  so  swift  and  is  so  clear.  This  is  just  such 
a  place  as  I  like.  See  that  big  water  wheel, 
mother." 

So  saying,  Rollo  pointed  to  a  large  mill  wheel 
which  was  slowly  revolving  by  the  side  of  a 
building  that  projected  out  over  the  water,  on  the 
island. 

The  island  where  Rollo  saw  the  wheel  was  not 
the  one  seen  in  the  engraving  on  page  58.     That 


The    Hotel.  69 


The  islet  and  the  island.  The  mill  stream.  Breakfast. 

is  called  the  islet,  and  it  stands  in  the  lake,  entirely 
on  the  outer  side  of  the  first  bridge.  The  island, 
on  the  other  hand,  stands  in  the  rapid  current  of 
the  river,  below  the  second  bridge,  and  is  entirely 
covered,  as  has  already  been  said,  with  tall  and 
very  antique  looking  buildings.  The  current  is 
so  rapid  along  the  sides  of  this  island,  and  along 
the  adjacent  shores,  that  it  will  carry  a  mill  any 
where  wherever  they  set  a  wheel. 

"  After  we  have  had  breakfast,"  said  Rollo,  "  I 
mean  to  go  out  and  explore  all  those  bridges,  and 
go  about  all  over  the  island." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  that  will  be  very 
pleasant.  I  should  like  very  much  to  go  with 
you  ;  and  I  will,  if  the  sun  does  not  come  out  too 
warm." 

By  this  time  Mr.  Holiday  had  paid  and  dis- 
missed the  porter  ;  and  he  now  turned  to  Hollo, 
and  asked  him  if  he  would  like  to  go  down  and 
order  breakfast.  Hollo  said  that  he  should  like 
to  go  very  much. 

"  Go  down,  then,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  into  the 
dining  room,  and  choose  a  table  there,  near  a 
pleasant  window,  and  order  breakfast." 

"  What  shall  I  order?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Any  thing  you  please,"  said  Mr.  Holiday ; 
*  you  know  what  will  make  a  good  breakfast." 

So  Rollo  went  out  of  the  room,  in  order  to  go 


TO  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

The  breakfast  room.  Hollo's  order. 

down  stairs.  He  passed  all  around  the  gallery 
of  the  story  he  was  in,  looking  at  the  pictures 
that  were  hung  upon  the  walls  as  he  went,  and 
then  descended  the  staircase  to  the  lower  floor. 
Here  he  found  doors  opening  into  the  dining 
room,  which  extended  along  the  whole  front  of 
the  hotel  towards  the  lake.  The  room  was  large, 
and  was  very  beautifully  furnished.  There  was 
a  long  table  extending  up  and  down  the  middle 
of  it.  On  the  back  side  were  sofas,  between  the 
doors.  On  the  front  side  was  a  range  of  win- 
dows looking  out  upon  the  river.  The  windows 
were  large,  and  as  the  walls  of  the  hotel  were 
very  thick,  a  recess  was  formed  for  each,  and  op- 
posite each  recess  was  a  round  table.  These 
tables  were  all  set  for  breakfasts  or  dinners. 

Some  of  these  tables  were  occupied.  Rollo 
chose  the  pleasantest  of  the  ones  that  were  at 
liberty,  and  took  his  seat  by  the  side  of  it.  Pres- 
ently a  very  neatly-dressed  and  pleasant-looking 
young  man  came  to  him,  to  ask  what  he  would 
have.  This  was  the  waiter ;  and  Rollo  made 
arrangements  with  him  for  a  breakfast.  He 
ordered  fried  trout,  veal  cutlets,  fried  potatoes, 
an  omelette,  coffee,  and  bread  and  honey.  His 
father  and  mother,  when  they  came  to  eat  the 
breakfast,  said  they  were  perfectly  satisfied  with 
it  in  every  respect. 


A  Ride    in    the    Environs.     7j 

Excursions.  Biding  and  sailing.  A  bargain. 


C  H  A  P  T  E  il      VI. 

A   Ride   in   the   Environs. 

One  morning,  a  day  or  two  after  our  party 
arrived  at  Geneva,  Mr.  Holiday  told  Rollo,  as 
they  were  sitting  at  their  round  breakfast  table, 
at  one  of  the  windows  looking  out  upon  the  lake, 
that  he  had  planned  a  ride  for  that  day  ;  and  he 
said  that  Rollo,  if  he  wished,  might  go  too. 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  only  I  think  I  should 
like  better  to  go  and  take  a  sail." 

"  I  believe  boys  generally  like  to  sail  better 
than  to  ride/'  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  but  the  places 
that  we  are  going  to  are  where  we  cannot  reach 
them  in  a  boat.  However,  I  will  make  you  an 
offer.  We  are  going  to  ride  in  a  carriage  to-day, 
and  we  should  like  very  much  to  have  you  go 
with  us.  Now,  if  you  will  go  with  us  on  thia 
vide,  I  will  go  and  take  you  out  on  the  lake  to 
sail  some  other  day." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  joyfully.  "But  how 
tar  will  you  take  me  ?  " 

"  As  far  as  you  wish  to  go,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 


72  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

Three  distinguished  personages  of  Geneva.  The  can  iage. 

il  0,  father !  "  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  should  wish  to  go 
to  the  very  farthest  end  of  the  lake." 

"  Well/7  said  his  father,  "  I  will  take  you  there." 

It  must  not  at  all  be  supposed  from  this  conver- 
sation that  Mr.  Holiday  considered  it  necessary 
to  make  a  bargain  with  his  boy,  to  induce  him  to 
go  any  where  or  to  do  any  thing  that  lie  desired. 
He  put  the  case  in  this  way  to  amuse  Rollo,  and 
to  interest  him  more  in  proposed  expeditions. 

"  There  are  three  distinguished  personages, 
said  Mr.  Holiday,  "whose  names  and  histories 
are  intimately  associated  with  Geneva,  because 
they  all  lived  in  Geneva,  or  in  the  environs  of  it. 
These  three  persons  are  Madame  de  Stael,  John 
Calvin,  and  Yoltaire.  I  will  tell  you  something 
about  them  on  the  way.  As  soon  as  you  have 
finished  your  breakfast  you  may  go  and  engage  a 
carriage  for  us.  Get  a  carriage  with  two  horses, 
and  have  it  ready  at  half  past  ten." 

Rollo  was  always  much  pleased  with  such  a 
commission  as  this.  He  engaged  a  very  pretty 
carriage,  with  two  elegant  black  horses.  The 
carriage  had  a  top  which  could  be  put  up  or 
lown  at  pleasure.  Rollo  had  it  put  down  ;  for, 
though  it  was  a  pleasant  day,  there  were  cloud3 
enough  in  the  sky  to  make  it  pretty  shady. 

There  was  a  front  seat  in  the  carriage,  where 
Rollo  might  sit  if  he  chose ;  but  he  preferred 
riding  outside  with  the  postilion. 


A   Ride    in    the    Environs.     7a 

Rollo  chooses  a  seat  outside. 

"  And  then,"  said  Rollo  to  his  father,  "  if  there 
are  any  directions  to  be  given  to  the  postilion,  or 
if  you  have  any  questions  for  me  to  ask,  I  can 
speak  to  him  more  conveniently. " 

"  Is  that  the  true  reason  why  you  wish  to  ride 
there  ?  "  asked  his  father. 

"  Why,  no,  father/'"  said  Rollo.  "  The  true  rea- 
son is,  that  I  can  see  better." 

"  They  are  both  very  good  reasons,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday.  "  Then,  besides,  when  you  get  tired  of 
riding  there  you  can  come  inside." 

Accordingly,  when  the  carriage  came  to  the 
door,  Rollo,  after  seeing  his  father  and  mother 
safely  seated  inside,  mounted  on  the  top  with  the 
postilion,  and  so  they  rode  awav. 

They  repassed  the  bridge  by  which  they  had 
entered  Geneva,  and  then  turned  to  the  right  by 
a  road  which  led  along  the  margin  of  the  lake, 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  shore. 

The  road  was  very  smooth  and  hard,  and  the 
country  was  beautiful.  Sometimes  the  road  was 
bordered  on  each  side  by  high  walls,  which  formed 
the  enclosures  of  gardens  or  pleasure  grounds. 
Sometimes  it  was  open,  and  afforded  most  enchant- 
ing views  of  the  lake  and  of  the  ranges  of  moun- 
tains beyond.  But  what  chiefly  amused  and  occu- 
pied Rollo's  mind  was  the  novelties  which  he 
observed  in  the  form  and  structure  of  every  thing 


74  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

Incidents  of  the  ride.  Interesting  information. 

he  saw  by  the  wayside.  Such  queer-looking  carts 
and  wheelbarrows,  such  odd  dresses,  such  groups 
of  children  at  play,  such  gates,  such  farmyards, 
such  pumps  and  fountains  by  the  roadside  — 
erery  thing,  indeed,  was  new  and  strange. 

After  the  party  had  been  riding  about  an  hour 
and  a  half,  they  passed  through  a  village  which 
consisted,  like  those  which  Rollo  had  seen  on  the 
road  from  Lyons,  of  compact  rows  of  old  and 
quaint-looking  stone  houses,  close  to  the  roadside. 
The  postilion  stopped  at  this  village  to  give  the 
horses  a  little  drink. 

"  Now,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  I  wish  you 
would  get  down,  and  come  inside  a  little  while/' 

Rollo  obeyed ;  and  when  the  carriage  began 
to  go  on  again,  his  father  addressed  him  a3 
follows : 

"We  are  going  to  see  the  residence  of  Mad- 
ame de  Stael.  She  was  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated ladies  that  ever  lived.  She  was  distin- 
guished as  an  authoress.  You  don't  know  any 
thing  about  her  now,  and  I  suppose  you  don?* 
care  much  about  her." 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  do  not." 

"  But  then,"  continued  his  father,  "  in  a  few 
years  more  you  will  very  probably  read  some  of 
her  writings  ;  and  at  any  rate  you  will  often  hear 
of  them.  One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  he» 
works  is  a  tale  called  Corinne." 


A   Ride    in    the    Environs.     75 

Madame  de  Stael.  Monsieur  Necker.  The  French  revolution. 

"  Ah,  yes/'  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  have  heard  of  Co- 
rinne.  The  first  class  in  French  studied  it  at 
school." 

''Very  likely,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "It  is  a 
very  good  text  book  for  studying  French.  At 
any  rate  it  is  a  famous  book,  and  Madame  de 
Stael  is  a  very  celebrated  author.  She  was  a 
lady,  too,  while  she  lived,  of  great  personal  dis- 
tinction. Her  rank  and  position  in  society  were 
very  exalted.  She  associated  with  kings  and 
princes,  and  was  closely  connected  with  many  of 
the  great  political  transactions  of  the  day  in 
which  she  lived.  This,  of  course,  added  greatly 
to  her  renown. 

"  Her  father  was  a  very  distinguished  man,  too. 
His  name  was  Monsieur  Necker.  He  was  a 
great  statesman  and  financier.  The  King  of 
France  got  his  money  affairs  in  the  greatest  con- 
fusion and  difficulty,  and  he  appointed  Monsieur 
Necker  his  minister  of  finance,  to  try  to  put  them 
in  order." 

"  And  did  he  succeed  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  it  was  too  late. 
The  disorder  was  hopeless,  and  it  ended  in  the 
great  French  revolution.  But  Necker  became  a 
very  celebrated  character  in  history.  We  are 
going  to  see  the  chateau  where  he  lived.  We 
shall  see  the  room  where  his  daughter  wrote  Co* 


76  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

They  visit  Monsieur  Necker's  chateau. 

dime.  I  wish  you  to  observe  carefully  all  that 
you  see,  and  remember  it.  Hereafter,  when  you 
come  to  read  the  history  of  France  and  the  writ- 
ings of  Madame  de  Stael,  you  will  look  back 
with  great  pleasure  to  the  visit  you  made  when  a 
boy  to  the  chateau  of  Necker,  near  Geneva." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  will." 

A  short  time  after  this  the  carriage  stopped  in 
a  shady  place  under  some  trees,  near  the  entrance 
to  a  village.  The  postilion  descended  and  opened 
the  carriage  door,  and  then  pointed  up  an  avenue 
of  trees,  which  he  said  led  to  the  chateau.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Holiday  got  out  of  the  carriage  and 
walked  up  the  avenue.     Rollo  followed  them. ' 

They  came  at  length  to  the  chateau.  There 
was  a  large  portal,  closed  by  an  iron  gate.  On 
one  side  of  the  portal  was  a  lodge.  A  porter 
came  out  of  the  lodge,  and  Mr.  Holiday  asked 
him  if  they  could  see  the  chateau.  He  answered 
very  politely  that  they  could ;  and  immediately 
opening  the  iron  gate,  he  ushered  the  whole  party 
into  the  court  yard. 

The  court  yard  was  a  very  pleasant  place.  It 
was  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  the  buildings 
of  the  chateau,  which  were  quite  imposing  in  their 
character,  like  a  palace.  The  fourth  side  was 
formed  by  a  handsome  wall,  with  a  large  orna- 
mented gateway  in  the  centre  of  it,  leading  into 
a  garden. 


A  Ride    in    the    Environs.     77 

The  concierge.  They  enter  the  chateau. 

The  entrance  to  the  chateau  was  at  a  large 
door  in  the  middle  of  one  side  of  the  yard.  The 
porter  ascended  the  steps,  and  rang  the  bell.  He 
paid  to  Mr.  Holiday  that  some  one  would  come 
to  conduct  the  party  over  the  chateau,  and  then 
went  back  to  his  lodge. 

Presently  a  well-dressed  man  came  to  the  door. 
He  received  the  party  in  a  very  polite  and  friendly 
manner,  and  invited  them  in. 

The  first  apartment  that  they  entered  was  a 
hall.  The  hall  was  very  large,  and  was  finished 
and  furnished  like  a  room,  with  chairs,  sofas,  and 
a  great  fireplace.  On  one  side  was  a  broad  stone 
staircase,  ornamented  with  a  massive  balustrade. 
The  concierge  led  the  way  up  this  staircase  to  a 
sort  of  gallery  on  the  second  story.  From  this 
gallery  a  door  opened,  leading  to  the  suite  of 
apartments  which  Monsieur  Necker  and  his  dis- 
tinguished daughter  had  occupied. 

The  rooms  were  constructed  and  arranged  in 
the  style  common  in  French  palaces.  They  were 
situated  in  the  line  of  building  which  formed  the 
front  of  the  chateau  ;  and  on  the  front  side  of 
each  of  them  were  windows  looking  out  upon  the 
lake.  Of  course  these  windows  formed  the  range 
of  windows  in  the  second  story  of  the  principal 
front  of  the  edifice. 

On  the  back  side  of  each  of  these  rooms  was  a 


78  Rollo   in    Geneva 

The  appearance  of  the  apartments.  The  family  portraits. 

door  communicating  with  the  gallery  behind  thein, 
or  with  some  subordinate  apartments  depending 
upon  them. 

Besides  these  doors,  there  were  others  which 
connected  the  different  apartments  of  the  suite 
with  each  other.  These  doors  were  all  in  a  line, 
and  they  were  near  the  side  of  the  room  where 
the  windows  were  which  looked  out  upon  the 
lake.  Thus  one  could  pass  through  the  whole 
suite  of  apartments  by  walking  along  from  one 
to  another  through  these  doors,  passing  thus  just 
in  front  of  the  range  of  windows. 

The  rooms  were  all  beautifully  furnished  in  the 
French  style.  There  were  richly  carved  cabinets 
and  book  cases,  and  splendid  mirrors,  and  sofas 
and  chairs,  and  paintings  and  statues.  One  room 
was  the  library.  Another  was  a  bedroom.  In 
one  there  were  several  portraits  on  the  wall. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  seemed  particularly  inter- 
ested in  examining  these  portraits.  One  repre- 
sented Madame  de  Stael  herself;  another,  her 
father,  Monsieur  Necker  ;  a  third,  her  mother, 
Madame  Necker.  Besides  these,  there  were  some 
others  of  the  family. 

Rollo  looked  at  all  these  portraits,  as  his  father 
requested  him  to  do  ;  but  he  was  more  interested 
in  two  other  objects  which  stood  on  a  table  in 
the  same  room.      These  objects  were  two  littltf 


A  Ride    in    the    Environs.     79 

Models  of  pet  animals.  Madame  de  Stael's  writing  table. 

figures,  one  representing  a  horse  and  the  other  a 
lamb.  These  figures  were  under  a  glass.  The 
horse  was  about  a  foot  long,  and  the  lamb  about 
six  inches.  The  horse  was  of  a  very  pretty  form 
and  was  covered  with  hair,  like  a  living  animal. 
The  lamb  in  the  same  manner  was  covered  with 
wool.  Indeed,  they  were  both  in  all  respects 
models  of  the  animals  they  represented  in  mini- 
ature. 

Rollo  asked  the  concierge  what  they  were. 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  "  those  are  models  of  a  favorite 
horse  and  a  favorite  lamb  that  belonged  to  Mon- 
sieur Necker.  When  they  died  he  was  very 
sorry ;  and  he  had  these  models  of  them  made, 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  them." 

After  this,  in  other  rooms,  the  party  were 
shown  the  table  at  which  Madame  de  Stael  sat 
in  writing  Corinne,  and  the  inkstand  that  she 
used  ;  and  when  they  went  down  stairs,  the  con- 
cierge showed  them  into  a  large  hall,  which  was 
situated  directly  below  the  rooms  they  had  been 
visiting,  where  he  said  Madame  de  Stael  used  to 
have  her  dramas  performed  from  time  to  time 
before  an  audience  of  friends  and  visitors  from 
the  neighborhood. 

At  length  the  concierge  conducted  the  party  to 
the  door  where  they  had  come  in.  There  Mr. 
Holiday,  after  giving  him  a  franc,  thanked  him 


80  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

The  burial  ground.  The  fountain  and  the  cascade. 

for  his  politeness,  and  bade  liim  good  bye.  The 
party  took  a  little  walk  in  the  garden,  and  then 
returned  to  the  carriage  and  rode  away. 

The  bodies  of  Monsieur  Necker  and  of  his 
daughter  lie  buried  in  a  little  grove  of  trees  near 
the  house.  '  The  party  saw  the  grove,  but  visitors 
are  not  allowed  to  go  to  the  graves. 

On  leaving  the  chateau,  the  carriage  turned  off 
from  the  lake,  and  took  a  road  that  led  back 
more  into  the  interior. 

"What  are  we  going  to  see  next,  father?"  said 
Rollo. 

"  We  are  going  to  see  the  house  where  the 
famous  philosopher,  Voltaire,  lived,"  replied  Mr. 
Holiday  ;  "  though  on  the  way  we  are  going  to 
see  a  fountain  and  cascade." 

"  Is  there  any  thing  very  remarkable  about 
the  fountain  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  only  it 
is  mentioned  in  the  guide  books  as  worth  being 
visited." 

So  the  carriage  drove  on  through  a  very  beau- 
tiful country,  with  fields,  and  gardens,  and  coun- 
try seats,  and  ancient  chateaux  bordering  the 
way.  From  time  to  time,  Rollo,  on  looking  back, 
obtained  splendid  views  of  the  lake  behind  him, 
and  of  the  gently-sloping  and  highly-cultivated 
shore  on  the  opposite  side,  with  the  snowy  range 
of  the  Alps  beyond,  shining  in  the  Fun. 


A  Hide    in    the    Environs.     81 

Finding  a  guide.  The  schoolboy.  His  book. 

At  length  they  arrived  at  a  village,  and  stopped 
before  an  i  :n.  The  postilion  said  that  they  were 
to  stop  there  with  the  carriage,  and  go  to  the 
fountain  on  foot. 

"  I  will  call  some  one  to  show  you  the  way," 
said  he. 

So  he  went  to  one  of  the  houses  across  the 
street,  and  called  a  woman  of  the  village,  and  she 
said  that  she  would  go  to  the  school  and  call  her 
boy. 

"  But  it  is  a  pity,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  to  take 
the  boy  away  from  his  school." 

"  0,  no,"  said  the  woman  ;  "  that  is  nothing 
at  all." 

So  she  ran  along  the  street  of  the  village  until 
she  came  to  the  school  house,  and  presently  she 
returned  with  the  boy.  He  had  a  book  in  his 
hand.  Rollo  looked  at  the  book,  and  found  that 
it  was  a  grammar.  The  covers  of  it  were  worn, 
and  the  leaves  tumbled,  and  the  beginning  and 
end  of  it  were  filled  with  names  scribbled  on  the 
blank  pages,  and  rude  drawings,  which  made  it 
look  exactly  like  the  school  books  of  idle  boys, 
as  Rollo  had  often  seen  them  in  America. 

Rollo  gave  back  the  book  to  the  boy,  and  tho 
boy  gave  it  to  his  mother ,  and  then  he  began 
walking  along  the  road,  to  show  the  party  the 
way  to  the  fountain. 
6 


82  Rollo    in    Geneva. 


The  place  of  baths.  A  picturesque  stream. 

He  led  them  out  of  the  village,  and  along  the 
pleasant  road,  until  at  length  they  came  to  a 
place  where  there  was  an  open  gateway,  through 
which  they  could  see  the  beautiful  grounds  of  a. 
large  country  house,  which  appeared  like  a  hotel. 
There  were  ladies  and  gentlemen  walking  about 
the  grounds,  along  the  margin  of  a  large  stream 
of  water,  or  sitting  in  groups  under  the  trees. 

"  What  place  is  that  ?  "  said  Rollo  to  the  boy. 

"  It  is  a  place  of  baths,"  said  the  boy. 

Rollo  wished  to  go  in  there  and  see  the  grounds ; 
but  the  boy  Walked  on,  and  so  Rollo  followed  him. 
After  a  time  the  guide  turned  off  into  a  field,  and 
there  took  a  path  which  led  down  toward  a  wood, 
where  they  could  hear  water  running.  When 
they  came  into  the  wood  they  saw  the  water.  It 
was  a  large  stream,  large  enough  for  a  mill  stream, 
and  it  ran  foaming  and  tumbling  down  over  its 
rocky  bed  in  a  very  picturesque  manner. 

The  walk  led  along  the  bank  of  the  stream, 
under  the  trees.  It  was  a  wide  and  very  pleas- 
ant walk,  and  was  well  gravelled.  Here  and 
there  there  were  little  seats,  too,  at  pretty  places 
formed  by  the  windings  of  the  glen. 

After  walking  along  a  little  way,  and  not  com- 
ing to  any  thing  more,  Mrs.  Holiday  began  to  bo 
tired. 

"  I  wonder,"  said  she,  "  if  there  is  any  thing 
remarkable  to  see  at  the  end  of  this  path." 


A  Ride    in    the    Environs.     83 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  sit  down  to  rest,  while  Kollo  goes  on  to  explore. 

"  I'll  ask  the  boy,"  said  Hollo. 

"  Boy,"  he  added,  speaking  to  the  little  guide, 
''  what  is  there  to  see  up  here  ?  " 

"  It  is  this,"  said  the  boy,  pointing  to  the  brook. 

"  Isn't  there  any  thing  else  besides  this  stream? " 
asked  Rollo. 

4  No."  said  the  boy. 

'  He  says  there  is  not  any  thing  else,"  said 
Rollo  to  his  mother ;  "  and  so  I  don't  believe  it 
is  worth  while  to  go  any  farther.  We  have  seen 
this  brook  enough,  and  you  will  get  very  tired." 

Mrs.  Holiday  sat  down  upon  a  green  bench 
that  happened  to  be  near,  at  a  turn  of  the  stream, 
in  order  to  take  time  to  consider  the  question. 

Mr.  Holiday  sat  down  beside  her. 

"  We  will  wait  here,  Rollo,  while  you  go  on 
with  the  boy,  and  see  what  you  can  find.  I  think 
there  must  be  something  or  other  remarkable,  for 
they  would  not  make  so  good  a  path  as  this  to 
lead  to  nothing  at  all.  You  may  go  on  with  the 
boy,  and  see  what  it  comes  to,  and  then  you  can 
come  back  and  tell  us." 

Rollo  liked  this  plan  very  much,  and  so  he  and 
the  boy  walked  on. 

In  about  five  minutes  Mr.  Holiday  heard  Rollo 
calling  to  him. 

"  E  a-ther  !  fa-ther  !  "  said  he. 

"  Well,"  said  Mr  Holiday,  u  I  hear." 


Rollo   in   Geneva 


The  lxriling  spring.  The  source  of  the  stream. 

— _ 

"  Come  up  here,"  said  Rollo,  calling  out  again 
"  It  is  a  very  curious  place  indeed." 

So  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  rose,  and  after  fol 
lowing  the  path  a  short  distance  farther  through 
the  wood,  they  came  to  where  Rollo  was.  They 
found,  to  their  astonishment,  that  there  the  brook 
which  they  had  been  following  so  long  came  to  a 
sudden  end,  or  rather  to  a  sudden  beginning  ;  for 
the  whole  volume  of  water  that  composed  it  was 
seen  here  to  come  boiling  up  out  of  the  ground 
in  a  sort  of  shallow  basin,  which  was  formed  on 
the  hill  side  at  the  head  of  the  glen. 

The  place  was  very  secluded,  but  it  was  very 
beautiful.  It  was  shaded  with  trees,  which  over- 
hung the  paths,  and  the  basin,  and  the  various 
channels  of  water  which  flowed  from  it  and 
around  it.  The  water  boiled  up  very  copiously 
from  between  the  stones  that  had  been  set  up  to 
form  the  margin  of  the  basin,  and  also  among 
the  sands  which  formed  the  bottom  of  it.  The 
walk  was  conducted  all  around  this  singular 
fountain ;  and  it  passed  across  the  outlet,  where 
the  stream  flowed  away  from  it,  over  a  neat  little 
stone  dike,  which  formed  the  edge  of  the  basin 
on  the  lower  side. 

Rollo  led  the  way  to  the  middle  of  this  dike, 
and  his  father  and  mother  followed.  They  stood 
there  for  some  time,  looking  down  into  the  basin 


A  Ride    in    the    Environs.     85 

Mr.  Holiday  explains  where  the  crater  comes  from. 

to  see  the  water  boil  up  from  between  the  stonea 
and  among  the  sands. 

"  This  is  a  very  curious  place  indeed,"  said  Mrs. 
Holiday. 

"  It  certainly  is,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  Well,  father,"  said  Rollo,  after  gazing  for 
some  time  into  the  bubbling  and  boiling  fountain, 
"  where  does  all  this  water  come  from  ?  What 
makes  it  come  up  out  of  the  ground  ?  n 

"  Why,  the  truth  is,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  though 
it  seems  to  come  up,  it  really  comes  down. 

"Do  you  see  all  this  mountain  up  here?"  ho 
added.  So  saying  he  pointed  to  the  land  which 
seemed  to  rise  to  a  great  height  above  the  head 
of  the  glen. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Well,  this  mountain,"  continued  Mr.  Holiday, 
"is  full  of  water.  All  mountains  are  full  of 
water,  for  it  rains  on  the  summits  and  sides  of 
them  almost  continually,  and  this  keeps  them 
always  full.  Generally  this  water  drains  off 
down  into  the  valleys,  through  the  beds  of  sand 
and  gravel  that  lie  in  the  heart  of  the  mountain, 
and  so  is  not  particularly  observed.  Sometimes 
it  breaks  out  in  small  springs,  at  various  places 
on  the  mountain  sides  ;  and  sometimes  the  shape 
of  the  rocks  and  openings  in  the  mountain  are 
such  as  to  collect  a  great  quantity  of  it  in  one 


86  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

Why  the  spring  docs  not  stop  flowing. 

place,  where  it  breaks  out  into  the  open  ground 
altogether,  as  it  does  here.  There  are  a  great 
many  such  fountains  in  Switzerland." 

"  Are  there  any  larger  than  this  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  ten  times  as  large. 
Sometimes  the  water  forms  quite  a  little  river 
almost  immediately  after  it  comes  out  of  the 
ground." 

"  I  should  like  to  see  them,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Very  likely  you  will  see  some  of  them,"  said 
his  father. 

"  But  then,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  if  this  water 
all  comes  from  the  rain,  I  should  think  that  when 
it  stops  raining  on  the  mountain  above,  then  or 
soon  afterwards  the  water  would  stop  boiling  up 
here." 

"  No,"  said  his  father ;  "  the  mountain  is  so 
large,  and  the  immense  beds  of  sand,  gravel,  and 
rock  which  it  contains  hold  so  much  water,  that 
before  all  that  has  fallen  in  one  rain  has  time  to 
get  drained  away,  another  rain  comes,  and  so 
there  is  a  perpetual  supply,  especially  for  such 
fountains  as  come  from  channels  that  reach  far 
into  the  mountain." 

After  rambling  about  this  spot  for  some  time, 
the  party  returned  down  the  path  ;  but  instead 
of  going  back  into  the  road  again  by  the  way 
they  came,  the  boy  led  them  through  a  gate  into 


A   Ride    in    the    Environs.     87 

The  party  ramble  about  in  the  hotel  grounds. 

the  grounds  of  the  hotel  which  thev  had  seen  in 
coming. 

The  grounds  were  very  beautiful,  being  shaded 
with  trees,  and  full  of  walks ;  and  the  stream 
which  came  down  the  glen  spread  itself  out  in 
various  directions  all  over  them,  filling  a  great 
number  of  channels  and  basins  which  had  been 
opened  here  and  there,  and  were  seen  in  every 
direction  among  the  trees  and  foliage.  The 
water  flowed  very  swiftly  along  from  one  of 
these  basins  to  another,  sometimes  in  a  continu- 
ous torrent,  and  sometimes  by  a  series  of  cas- 
cades and  waterfalls ;  and  in  the  bottoms  of  all 
the  little  ponds  the  water  was  seen  boiling  up  in 
the  clean  gray  sand,  just  as  it  had  done  in  the 
fountain  up  the  glen. 

There  were  walks  every  where  along  the  banks 
of  these  streams,  and  little  bridges  leading  across 
them.  There  were  seats,  too,  and  bowers,  and  a 
great  many  other  pretty  places.  At  one  spot 
under  a  tree  was  a  large  white  swan,  or  rather  a 
sculptured  image  of  one,  sitting  on  a  marble 
stone,  and  pouring  out  a  constant  stream  of  clear 
cold  water  from  his  mouth.  Underneath,  on  a 
little  marble  slab,  was  a  tumbler,  placed  there  to 
enable  people  to  take  a  drink.  Hollo  stopped  to 
take  a  drink  ;  but  instead  of  using  the  tumbler, 
he  caught  the  water  in  a  drinking  cup  which  be 


88  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Dismissing  the  guide.  The  chateau  of  Voltaire. 

had  bought  in  Scotland,  and  which  he  always 
carried  in  his  pocket. 

After  rambling  about  these  grounds  for  some 
time,  the  party  went  back  through  the  yard  of 
the  hotel  to  the  village.  There  they  dismissed 
the  boy.  Mr.  Holiday  gave  him  half  a  franc  for 
guiding  them.  Then  they  got  into  their  carriage 
again,  and  rode  on. 

In  about  an  hour  they  came  to  a  little  village 
named  Ferney,  near  which  was  the  chateau  that 
was  formerly  the  residence  of  the  celebrated 
philosopher  Voltaire.  The  carriage  stopped 
under  some  ancient  trees,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday and  Rollo  got  out  and  walked  up  an  avenue. 
At  the  head  of  the  avenue  they  came  to  a  gate 
Which  led  into  the  grounds  of  the  chateau. 

There  was  a  bell  cord  hanging  by  this  gate, 
and  a  placard  up,  requesting  visitors  to  ring  the 
bell,  and  not  to  enter  the  grounds  until  the  do- 
mestic should  come  to  guide  them. 

"  Shall  I  ring,  father  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  ring  away." 

So  Rollo  pulled  the  bell  rope,  and  very  soon  a 
domestic  came.  He  received  the  company  very 
oolitely,  and  invited  them  to  follow  him. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  and  Rollo  accordingly 
"ollowed  him  into  the  yard.  The  domestic  led 
them  round  to  the  front  of  the  house,  which  waf? 


A  Ride    in    the   Environs.      89 

Memorials  of  Voltaire.  The  sepulchral  urn. 

turned  away  from  the  road.  The  front  faced  a 
beautiful  lawn,  ornamented  with  walks  and  trees. 
In  one  place  there  was  a  table  under  the  trees, 
with  seats  around  it,  as  if  the  family  were  accus- 
tomed sometimes  to  take  their  tea  there.  From 
this  lawn  there  was  a  beautiful  view  of  the  lake 
and  of  the  mountains  beyond. 

The  domestic  led  them  into  the  house,  and 
showed  them  the  two  rooms  in  it  which  contained 
most  of  the  memorials  of  Voltaire.  The  most 
remarkable  of  these  memorials  was  a  marble 
monument  which  stood  on  one  side  of  the  room, 
and  which  Hollo  said  looked  like  an  ornamental 
stove,  that  contained  Voltaire's  heart.  His  body 
was  buried  in  Paris,  but  his  heart  was  deposited 
in  this  sepulchral  urn. 

Besides  this  there  were  a  number  of  pictures 
in  the  room,  which  had  been  placed  there  by  Vol- 
taire. Some  of  them  had  been  given  to  him  by 
the  emperors  and  kings  that  he  had  been  ac- 
quainted with. 

Rollo,  however,  did  not  take  much  interest  in 
any  of  these  things.  The  singular  appearance  of 
the  room  and  of  the  furniture  interested  him  in 
some  degree  by  its  novelty,  but  in  other  respects 
he  was  very  little  amused  by  what  he  saw.  He 
was  glad  when  the  visit  to  the  house  was  over, 
and  he  came  out  again  upon  the  lawn. 


90  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

View  of  Mont  Blanc  from  Voltaire's  chateau. 

From  the  lawn  there  was  a  very  splendid  view. 
There  was  a  broad  and  very  fertile  slope  of  land 
extending  for  several  miles  down  to  the  shore  of 
the  lake.  Beyond  it  was  seen  the  blue  expanse 
of  the  water,  and  still  farther  another  magnifi- 
cent slope  of  fertile  and  richly-cultivated  land, 
which  extended  back  beyond  the  lake  to  the  foot 
of  the  mountains.  A  lofty  range  of  snow-clad 
summits  rose  in  the  distance,  the  towering  summit 
of  Mont  Blanc  reposing  like  a  monarch  in  the 
midst  of  them. 

There  was  a  curious  covered  walk  along  on  one 
side  of  this  lawn.  It  was  a  walk  covered  with 
foliage.  It  was  walled  in  on  the  sides,  too,  as 
well  as  covered  above  with  the  foliage.  Two 
hedges  had  been  planted,  one  on  each  side  ;  and 
as  they  had  grown,  the  leaves  and  branches  had 
been  trimmed  off  straight  and  smooth  like  a  wall. 
Then  the  tops  had  been  trained  to  meet  overhead, 
and  the  foliage  had  been  trimmed  square  and  fiat 
on  the  upper  side,  and  in  an  arch  on  the  under 
side.  So  dense  was  the  growth  of  the  leaves  and 
branches  that  the  whole  alley  Was  closely  and 
completely  enclosed,  so  that  it  would  not  have 
been  possible  to  look  out  of  it  at  all,  had  it  not 
been  that  a  row  of  square  openings  like  windows 
had  been  made  on  the  side  towards  the  lake.  Any 
one  could  look  out  and  view  the  scenery  through 
these  openings  as  he  walked  along. 


A  Ride    in    the   Environs.     91 

Voltaire's  alley  on  the  lawn.  The  excoruted  tree. 

Voltaire  used  to  compose  his  works  in  this 
alley,  it  was  said.  He  would  walk  up  and  down, 
and  dictate  as  he  walked  to  his  amanuensis,  who 
sat  near  at  hand  with  pen  and  ink  to  write  down 
Hie  philosopher's  words. 

After  this  the  domestic  conducted  the  party 
through  a  wood,  and  showed  them  a  tree  which 
Voltaire  had  planted.  It  was  now  a  tree  of  great 
size,  and  apparently  far  advanced  in  age. 

Hollo  took  very  little  interest  in  this  tree,  and 
even  his  father  and  mother  did  not  appear  to  pay 
much  attention  to  it.  It  seemed,  however,  that 
other  visitors  had  not  felt  the  same  indifference 
to  it,  for  those  who  had  come  to  see  it  had  picked 
off  and  cut  off  so  many  pieces  of  bark  1o  carry 
away  as  relics  that  the  tree,  on  one  side  had  be 
come  entirely  excoriated,  and  there  was  danger 
that  in  the  end  the  poor  sufferer  from  these  dep- 
redations would  be  killed.  In  order  to  protect 
it,  therefore,  from  any  further  injury,  the  propri- 
etor had  surrounded  it  with  a  little  circular 
paling,  so  that  now  nobody  could  come  near 
enough  to  touch  the  tree. 

Rollo  was  glad  when  the  visit  to  this  place 
was  ended ;  so  he  ran  on  before  his  father  and 
mother  in  going  out,  and  was  on  his  seat  by  the 
side  of  the  postilion  long  before  they  came  to  the 
carriage. 


n 


Rollo    in    Geneva 


From  Ferney  to  Geneva.       Crossing  the  frontier.       The  custom  honse. 

Ferney,  though  so  near  to  Geneva,  is  within 
the  confines  of  France,  and  the  carriage  passed 
the  line  between  the  two  countries  in  going  home. 
There  was  a  little  custom  house  and  two  or  three 
armed  policemen  at  the  frontier ;  but  the  party 
of  travellers  were  not  molested,  and  so  in  due 
time  they  arrived  safely  home. 


The  Junction  of  the  Arve.    93 

Clear  water.  The  color  of  it. 


Chapter    VII. 
The  Junction  of  the  Arve. 

One  evening,  when  Rollo  was  walking  with  his 
father  and  mother  on  one  of  the  bridges  which 
led  over  the  river,  they  stopped  at  a  place  where 
two  boys  were  fishing,  and  looked  down  over  the 
railing  into  the  water.  The  water  was  quite 
deep,  but  they  could  see  the  stones  on  the  bottom 
of  it  almost  as  distinctly  as  if  they  had  been  look- 
ing only  through  the  air. 

"  How  very  clear  the  water  is !  "  said  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday ;  "  and  what  a  beautiful  tinge  it  has !  What 
is  the  reason  of  it  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  the  reason  is  of  the  blue 
tinge,"  said  Mr.  Holiday ;  "  but  the  cause  of  its 
being  so  clear  is,  that  it  flows  out  of  this  great 
lake,  where  it  has  been  lying  so  long  that  it  has 
had  time  to  settle  perfectly. 

"  There  is  a  great  difference  in  the  streams  of 
Switzerland,"  continued  Mr.  Holiday.  "Some 
are  exceedingly  clear,  and  some  are  exceedingly 
turbid.     There  are  two  way 3  by  which  the  turbid 


91  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Filtering  and  settling.  What  causes  turbidness. 

waters  become  purified.  One  is,  by  being  filtered 
through  the  sands  under  ground ;  and  the  other  is, 
by  'settling,1  as  we  call  it,  in  the  lake3.  The 
water  of  the  fountain  that  we  saw  on  our  way  to 
Ferney  was  beautifully  clear,  and  it  was  made  so 
by  filtration  in  the  sand,  in  coming  down  through 
the  heart  of  the  mountain.  This  water,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  made  clear  by  its  impurities  sub- 
siding in  the  lake." 

"  And  it  comes  in  muddy  at  the  other  end," 
said  Rollo. 

"  Not  muddy,  exactly,"  rejoined  Mr.  Holiday, 
"  but  very  turbid.  The  turbidness  of  it  is  not 
mud  precisely.  It  comes  from  the  grinding  up 
of  rocks  by  the  slow  march  of  the  glaciers  over 
and  among  them.  Thus  all  the  streams  that 
come  from  glaciers  are  very  turbid  ;  and  so  long 
as  the  waters  flow  on  in  an  uninterrupted  stream 
they  continue  turbid  ;  but  when  they  form  a  lake, 
the  particles  of  stone  subside,  and  the  water 
comes  out  at  the  lower  end  of  the  lake  perfectly 
clear." 

"And  then  continues  clear  till  it  gets  to  the 
ocean,  I  suppose,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Holiday,  "  unless  somo 
other  turbid  stream,  which  has  no  lake  to  settle 
itself  in,  falls  into  it  and  pollutes  it  again. 

"  That  is  the  case  with  this  river.     It  is  very 


The  Junction   of  the  Arve.    95 

Mr.  Holiday  describee  the  junction  of  the  Arve. 

clear  and  beautiful  here,  where  it  comes  out  of 
the  lake,  but  the  Arve  comes  in  a  mile  or  two 
oelow  Geneva,  and  brings  an  immense  volume  of 
turbid  water.  This  makes  the  whole  river  tur- 
bid again  after  the.  waters  of  the  two  rivers  have 
flowed  long  enough  together  to  get  well  mixed, 
and  then  it  continues  turbid  all  the  way  to  the 
sea.     There  is  no  other  lake  to  settle  it. 

M I  am  told,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  that  the  com- 
ing in  of  the  turbid  torrent  of  the  Arve  into  the 
clear  blue  waters  of  the  Rhone  is  a  very  pretty 
spectacle,  and  I  should  like  very  much  to  see  it ; 
but  it  is  rather  too  far  to  go." 

"  0,  no,  father,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  let  us  go." 

"How  far  is  it?"  asked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"About  a  mile,  I  should  think,  by  the  map/ 
said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  but  there  seems  to  be  no 
carriage  road  to  the  place.  If  there  had  been  a 
carriage  road  I  should  have  taken  you  there  ;  for 
I  should  like  very  well  to  have  you  see  the  place." 

"  But,  father,  we  can  walk  there  very  easily," 
said  Rollo.  "There  is  a  nice  path  along  the 
bank  of  the  river.  I  saw  it  the  other  day,  when 
I  was  down  below  the  bridge." 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  I  should  like  to 
go  very  much,  if  we  could  go  in  the  morning  or 
in  the  evening,  when  it  is  cool.  Is  the  walk 
shady,  Rollo?" 


96  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

The  excursion  before  breakfast.     Why  the  party  could  not  go  in  a  boat. 

"Yes,  mother,  it  is  shady  in  ihe  morning. 
There  is  a  high  hedge  all  along  on  one  side  of 
the  path,  and  that  keeps  the  sun  off  in  the  morn- 
ing. In  the  evening  the  sun  comes  round  to  the 
other  side." 

"  Then  we  will  go  in  the  morning,"  said  Mrs. 
Holiday.  "  Let  us  get  up  early  to-morrow  morn- 
ing, and  go  before  breakfast." 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  really  desirous  of  seeing 
this  famous  junction  of  the  Rhone  and  the  Arve ; 
but  her  chief  interest  in  making  the  excursion 
arose  from  her  sympathy  with  Rollo,  and  from 
observing  how  much  he  wished  to  go.  It  is 
always  so  with  a  mother.  When  her  children 
are  kind  and  attentive  to  her,  and  obedient  to 
her  wishes,  she  always  desires  most  strongly  to 
do  what  will  most  gratify  them. 

The  plan  was  arranged  according  to  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday's proposal,  and  the  next  morning  the  party 
set  out  at  half  past  six  o'clock.   Rollo  led  the  way. 

"  What  I  should  like  best,"  said  Rollo,  turning 
round  so  as  to  face  his  father  and  mother,  and 
walking  backward,  "would  be  to  take  a  boat, 
and  shoot  down  the  river  under  these  bridges." 

"  Ah,"  said  his  father,  "  that  would  not  do. 
The  current  is  too  swift.  At  any  rate,  if  yon 
were  to  go  down  you  would  never  get  the  boat 
back  again.     The  water  runs  like  a  mill  race. 


The  Junction  op  the  Arve.     97 

The  mill  race.  Old  fortifications  and  new  improvements. 

"  Indeed,  it  is  a  mill  race/'  continued  Mr.  Hol- 
iday. "  Don't  you  see  the  mill  wheels  projecting 
into  the  stream,  here  and  there  ?  They  are  car- 
ried by  the  natural  force  of  the  current." 

After  passing  by  the  buildings  of  the  town, 
Hollo  led  the  way  over  a  narrow  wooden  bridge, 
which  passed  across  the  old  moat  of  the  town. 
The  remains  of  a  monstrous  bastion  were  to  be 
seen  beyond  it. 

"  This  is  a  part  of  the  old  fortifications,"  said 
Hollo.  "  They  are  cutting  them  all  to  pieces  now 
with  roads  and  bridges  leading  in  and  out  the 
town." 

After  going  beyond  these  embankments,  Rollo 
led  the  way  to  a  path  which  lay  along  the  river 
side.  Very  soon  the  path  began  to  be  a  very 
pleasant  one  indeed.  Mrs.  Holiday  was  delight- 
ed with  it.  It  was  close  to  the  margin  of  the 
water,  and  only  a  very  few  inches  above  the  level 
of  it.  The  current  was  very  swift,  and  the  water 
was  so  blue,  and  clear,  and  beautiful,  that  it  was 
a  continual  pleasure  to  look  down  into  it,  and  to 
watch  the  little  waves  and  ripples  that  curled, 
and  twirled,  and  dashed  against  the  shore. 

There  was  a  row  of  willows  between  the  paths 

and  the  water,  or  rather  in   the  margin  of  the 

water,  for  the  path  was  so  near  to  the  stream 

that  there  was  scarcely  room  for  the  willows  on 

7 


Rollo    in    Geneva. 


The  path  along  the  river  side. 


the  land.  On  the  other  side  of  the  path  there 
was  a  close  hedge,  which  formed  the  boundary  of 
a  region  of  fields,  meadows,  and  gardens.  Hero 
and  there  were  gates  leading  through  this  hedge ; 
and  the  party,  as  they  walked  along,  could  look 
through  the  openings  and  see  the  peasant  girls 
coming  out  to  their  work  from  the  houses.  The 
whole  region,  though  it  was  highly  cultivated 
and  extremely  beautiful,  was  very  flat  and  level, 
and  was  only  raised  two  or  three  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  water. 

From  each  gateway  or  other  opening  through 
the  hedge  there  were  paths  leading  off  through 
the  fields  and  gardens  to  the  houses ;  and  there 
were  steps  at  the  gates  leading  down  to  the  path- 
way that  lay  along  the  margin  of  the  stream. 
The  people  of  the  houses  were  accustomed,  it 
seemed,  to  come  down  there  to  get  water. 

Thus  the  party  walked  along,  with  the  rapid 
current  of  the  river  close  to  their  feet  on  one 
side,  and  the  high  green  hedge  shutting  them  in 
on  the  other,  while  the  tops  of  the  willow  trees 
spreading  over  their  heads  completed  the  cool- 
ness and  shadiness  of  the  pathway.  Rollo  led 
the  way,  and  his  father  and  mother  followed,  one 
by  one,  for  the  path  was  not  wide  enough  for  two 
to  walk  together. 

Presently  they  came  to  a  place  where  a  large 


(Thb  Junction  of  the   Arve.  Ul 

The  water  wheel  on  the  Rhone.  Irrigation.  The  prospect. 

water  wheel  of  a  very  curious  construction  wag 
seen  revolving  quite  near  the  shore.  They  stopped 
to  look  at  it.  They  liked  to  see  it  revolving ; 
and  then  besides  they  wished  to  examine  the  con- 
struction of  it.  It  was  mounted  on  a  frame  of 
timbers  that  had  been  set  up  for  it  in  the  water, 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  shore.  The  wheel 
itself  was  much  like  the  wheel  of  a  steamboat ; 
only,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  float  boards,  it 
had  a  series  of  buckets  on  the  edge  of  it,  which 
took  up  the  water  from  the  stream,  as  the  wheel 
revolved,  and  emptied  it  into  a  trough  above,  as 
they  went  over.  From  this  trough  there  was  a 
circular  pipe,  made  very  strong,  which  conveyed 
the  water  by  a  subterranean  aqueduct  into  the 
field  opposite,  where  it  rose  into  a  reservoir  by 
the  pressure  of  the  column  in  the  pipe,  and  was 
used  to  irrigate  the  ground. 

Across  the  river  at  this  place  was  a  beautiful 
view  of  fields,  vineyards,  terraces,  and  gardens ; 
for  on  that  side  the  bank  was  high,  and  as  the 
sun  shone  directly  upon  it,  the  whole  scene  pre- 
sented to  view  was  extremely  bright  and  beautiful. 

At  one  of  the  gates  which  opened  through  the 
hedge,  Rollo  stopped  to  look  in.  He  saw  gar- 
dens laid  out  in  squares,  with  corn,  and  beans, 
and  various  garden  vegetables  growing  luxuri- 
antly in  them.     There  were  rows  of  fruit  trees, 


102  Uollo   in   Geneva. 

The  interval  between  the  Arve  and  the  Rhone. 

too,  bordering  the  paths,  and  at  a  distance  were 
to  be  seen  houses  scattered  here  and  there  over 
the  plain,  the  dwellings  of  the  owners  of  the  land. 
Each  house  had  its  little  barns  and  granaries  con- 
nected with  it,  the  whole  group  being  half  con- 
cealed by  the  foliage  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  that 
had  been  planted  around  it. 

"  Will  it  do  for  us  to  go  in,"  said  Rollo  to  his 
father,  "and  walk  a  part  of  the  way  through 
these  gardens  ?  " 

"  Yes,'7  said  his  father,  "  I  presume  it  will  do  ; 
but  perhaps  we  had  better  go  down  all  the  way 
by  the  path,  and  come  back  by  the  gardens." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  that  will  be  much  the 
best  plan. 

"  But,  father,"  continued  Rollo,  "  if  we  should 
go  across  these  gardens,  and  keep  on  in  that 
direction  for  some  time,  I  suppose  that  we  should 
come  to  the  Arve." 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father ;  "  the  Arve  is  coming 
down  from  the  mountains,  and  flowing  towards 
the  Rhone  not  very  far  from  here,  on  the  other 
side  of  this  flat  land.  This  land  constitutes  a 
sort  of  tongue  lying  between  the  two  rivers.  J 
suppose  it  has  been  formed  by  the  deposits  that 
the  Arve  brings  down.  I  have  no  doubt  that  if 
we  should  walk  across  the  tongue  of  land,  we 
should  come  to  the  Arve  ;  but  it  is  better  to  go 


The  Junction   of  the  Arve.  103 

The  fisherman  in  the  willow  tree  upon  the  river  bank. 

on  down  the  path  till  we  reach  the  point  where 
the  two  rivers  come  together." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  will  go  on." 

So  they  went  on  along  the  path,  as  before. 

Rollo  soon  had  occasion  to  be  glad  that  he  had 
acceded  so  readily  to  his  father's  wishes  to  con- 
tinue in  the  path  ;  for  he  soon  came  to  something 
that  amused  him  very  much.  It  was  a  man  sit- 
ting in  the  top  of  one  of  the  willow  trees  that 
overhung  the  path,  fishing.  The  willow  leaned 
very  much,  and  this  made  it  easy  to  climb  the 
stem  of  it.  It  had  been  headed  down,  too,  so 
that  there  was  a  pretty  good  place  to  sit  on  the 
top  of  it.  It  was  on  the  very  brink  of  the  stream, 
and  indeed  the  leaning  of  the  stem  carried  the 
top  of  the  willow  somewhat  over  the  water,  and 
thus  it  made  quite  a  good  place  to  sit  and  fish. 

The  current  flowed  very  swiftly  under  the  wil- 
low tree,  and  the  fishing  line  was  carried  far 
down  the  stream. 

"  Ah !  "  said  Rollo  ;  "  that  is  just  such  a  place 
as  I  should  like  to  have.  I  should  like  to  sit  up 
in  that  tree  and  fish  all  the  morning." 

"  I  should  think  it  might  be  a  little  lonesome,'' 
said  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  No,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  or  perhaps  there  might  be 
some  other  boys  in  the  other  trees." 

So   saying,   Rollo   looked   up   and   down   the 


104 


Rollo   in    Geneva 


A  good  place  for  a  fisherman. 


stream,  to  see  if  there  were  any  other  trees  so 
formed  as  to  furnish  a  seat  for  a  fisherman  in  the 
top  of  them  ;  but  there  were  none. 

Here  you  see  a  picture  of  the  man  as  Rollo 
saw  him. 


As  the  party  went  on  after  this  they  found  evi- 
dences increasing  that  they  were  drawing  near  to 
the  junction  of  the  rivers.     The  hedge  became 


The  Junction   op  the  Arve.  105 

Coming  to  the  junction.  Gray  water  and  blue. 

less  regular,  and  at  length  ceased  altogether.  Ita 
place  was  supplied  by  dense  thickets  formed  of 
alders,  willows,  and  long  grass.  The  ground  be- 
come more  and  more  uneven,  and  at  length  noth- 
ing of  the  path  was  left  but  a  narrow  ridge  or 
dike  that  had  been  formed  artificially  along  the 
shore,  with  a  crooked  little  footway  on  the  top 
of  it. 

At  last  Rollo  began  to  see  through  the  bushes 
occasional  glimpses  of  water  on  the  other  side. 

"  There,  father  !  "  said  he,  "  there  !  We  are 
coming  to  the  Arve." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  and  I  don't  sup- 
pose that  we  can  go  much  farther." 

Indeed,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  go 
much  farther,  if  there  had  not  been  a  small  em- 
bankment made  to  serve  for  a  pathway.  The 
party,  though  expecting  every  moment  to  be 
obliged  to  turn  back,  still  went  on.  At  length 
the  whole  expanse  of  the  Arve  opened  before 
them  as  it  came  in  from  the  left  —  its  waters  boil- 
ing, whirling,  and  sweeping  in  great  circles  as  it 
came  on,  and  the  whole  surface  of  it  as  gray  aa 
the  sand  on  the  shores.  On  the  other  side  was 
the  Rhone,  blue,  and  pellucid,  and  beautiful  ag 
the  sky  above. 

"  What  an  extraordinary  spectacle !  "  said  Mr, 
Holiday. 


10G  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

The  dike  or  mole  between  the  rivers. 

11  Come,  mother,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  can  go  on  a 
good  deal  farther  yet." 

Rollo  was  right ;  for  the  walk,  instead  of  com- 
ing to  an  end  at  the  extremity  of  the  point  which 
separated  the  two  rivers,  was  continued  along  a 
little  dike  or  embankment  which  seemed  to  have 
been  made  artificially  some  distance  down  between 
the  two  streams.  This  dike  was  very  narrow, 
being  just  wide  enough  indeed  for  a  narrow  foot- 
path. 

In  advancing  along  this  path  it  was  very  curi- 
ous to  observe  the  totally  different  aspects  of  the 
water  on  the  two  sides  of  it.  On  the  one  side  it 
was  turbid  and  gray,  and  perfectly  opaque.  Yoii 
could  not  have  seen  the  pollywogs  in  the  shal- 
lowest places  along  the  margin.  On  the  other 
side  it  was  so  clear  and  transparent  that  you 
could  have  seen  fishes  swimming  where  it  was  ten 
feet  deep.  It  was  of  such  a  rich  and  beautiful 
blue  color,  too,  as  if  it  had  been  tinted  with  a 
dye,  and  the  color  was  of  so  rich  and  brilliant  a 
hue,  that  Mrs.  Holiday  was  continually  admiring 
and  praising  it. 

This  narrow  path,  dividing  thus  the  waters  of 
the  two  rivers,  continued  several  yards  ;  but  at 
length  it  came  to  an  end.     The  party  all  went  on 
till  they  reached  the  extremity  of  it,  and  there^ 
looking  still  farther  on,  they  saw  the  line  of  4e- 


The  Junction   of  the  Arve.  107 

The  singular  phenomenon  of  the  mixing  of  the  waters. 

marcation  between  the  gray  water  and  the  blue 
extending  itself  before  them  as  far  as  they  could 
see.  The  two  rivers  remained  for  a  long  distanco 
perfectly  distinct,  though  struggling  and  contend- 
ing against  each  other,  as  it  were,  all  the  way. 
The  line  was  broken  and  indented  all  along  by 
the  strife  of  the  waters  —  the  gray  for  a  moment 
penetrating  into  the  blue,  and  then  the  next  in- 
stant the  blue  forcing  itself  into  the  gray.  The 
waters  went  on  struggling  against  each  other  in 
this  manner  as  far  as  the  eye  could  follow  them. 

The  party  remained  on  the  extremity  of  the 
point  a  long  time,  observing  this  singular  phe- 
nomenon. At  length  it  began  to  be  pretty  warm 
there  ;  for  the  narrow  tongue  of  land  which  pro- 
jected so  far  between  the  two  currents  was  ex- 
posed to  the  sun,  which  had  now  risen  so  high 
that  there  was  a  good  deal  of  heat  in  his  rays. 

So  they  set  out  on  their  return  home.  On  the 
way  back  they  walked  a  considerable  distance 
through  the  fields  and  gardens.  They  went  into 
them  from  the  path  along  the  shore,  through  one 
of  the  open  gates,  and  they  went  back  to  the  path 
again  by  another. 


108  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

Mont  Blanc  '!  going  out."  A  beautiful  spectacle. 


Chapter    VIII. 
Seeing    Mont    Blanc    go    out. 

"  Father,"  said  Rollo  to  Mr.  Holiday,  at  din« 
ner  one  day,  "  what  are  you  going  to  do  this 
evening  ?  " 

"We  are  going  to  see  Mont  Blanc  go  out," 
said  his  father. 

Mr.  Holiday  answered  Rollo  in  French,  using 
a  phrase  very  common  in  Geneva  to  denote  the 
gradual  fading  away  of  the  rosy  light  left  upon 
Mont  Blanc  by  the  setting  sun  ;  for  the  sun,  just 
at  the  time  of  its  setting,  gilds  the  mountain  with 
a  peculiar  rosy  light,  as  if  it  were  a  cloud.  This 
light  gradually  fades  away  as  the  sun  goes  down, 
until  the  lower  part  of  the  mountain  becomes  of 
a  dead  and  ghostly  white,  while  the  roseate  hue 
still  lingers  on  the  summit,  as  if  the  top  of  the 
mountain  were  tipped  with  flame.  These  las* 
beams  finally  disappear,  and  then  the  whole  ex- 
panse of  snow  assumes  a  deathlike  and  wintrj- 
whiteness.  The  inhabitants  of  Geneva,  and  those 
who  live  in  the  environs,  often  go  out  to  their 


Seeing  Mont  Blanc   go   out.  109 

The  various  points  of  view.  The  shore ;  the  lake. 

gardens  and  summer  houses  in  the  summer  even- 
ings, just  as  the  sun  is  going  down,  to  see,  as  they 
express  it,  Mont  Blanc  go  out ;  *  and  strangers 
who  visit  Geneva  always  desire,  if  they  can,  to 
witness  the  spectacle.  There  are,  however,  not 
a  great  many  evenings  in  the  year  when  it  can  be 
witnessed  to  advantage,  the  mountain  is  so  often 
enveloped  in  clouds. 

Kollo  had  heard  the  phrase  before,  and  he  knew 
very  well  what  his  father  meant. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  in  a  tone  of  satisfaction  ; 
"  and  may  I  go  too  ?  " 

"  Yes/'  said  his  father  ;  "  we  should  like  to 
have  you  go  very  much.  But  there  is  a  question 
to  be  decided  —  how  we  shall  go.  The  best  point 
of  view  is  somewhere  on  the  shore  along  the  lake, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  bridge.  There  are  three 
ways  of  going.  We  can  walk  across  the  bridge, 
and  then  follow  the  road  along  the  shore  till  we 
come  to  a  good  place,  or  we  can  take  a  carriage, 
and  order  the  coachman  to  drive  out  any  where 
into  the  neighborhood,  where  there  is  a  good  view 
of  the  mountain,  or  we  can  go  in  a  boat.'" 

"  In  a  boat,  father !  "  said  Rollo,  eagerly.  "  Let 
us  go  in  a  boat !  " 

"  The  objection  to  that,"  said  Mr  Holiday,  "  is, 
that  it  is  more  trouble  to  go  and  engage  a  boat. 

*  The  phrase  is.  in  French,  Pour  voir  le  Mont  Blanc  s'eteindre. 


110  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Rollo  undertakes  to  get  a  boat.  Embarking. 

There  are  plenty  of  carriages  here  at  the  very 
door,  and  I  can  have  one  at  a  moment's  notice, 
by  just  holding  up  my  finger." 

"  And,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  so  there  are  plenty 
of  boats  right  down  here  by  the  quay,  and  I  can 
get  one  of  them  in  a  moment,  just  by  holding  up 
my  finger." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  we  will  go  in  a 
boat  if  you  will  take  all  the  trouble  of  engaging 
one." 

Rollo  liked  nothing  better  than  this,  and  as 
soon  as  dinner  was  over  he  went  out  upon  the 
quay  to  engage  a  boat,  while  his  father  and 
mother  went  up  to  their  room  to  get  ready  to  go. 

Rollo  found  plenty  of  boats  at  the  landing. 
Some  of  them  were  very  pretty.  He  chose  one 
which  seemed  to  have  comfortable  seats  in  it  for 
his  father  and  mother.  It  was  a  boat,  too,  that 
had  the  American  flag  flying  at  the  stern.  Some 
of  the  boatmen  get  American  flags,  and  raise 
them  on  their  boats,  out  of  compliment  to  their 
numerous  American  customers. 

Soon  after  Rollo  had  engaged  the  boat,  bif 
father  and  mother  came,  and  they  all  embarked 
on  board.  The  boatman  rowed  them  off  from 
the  shore.  The  sun  was  just  going  down.  There 
were  a  great  many  boats  plying  to  and  fro  about 
the  lake,  and  the  quays  and  the  little  islet  were 
crowded  with  people. 


Seeing  Mont  Blanc  go  out.  Ill 

Boating  upon  the  Lake  of  Geneva. 

After  rowing  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  the 
boatman  brought  the  range  of  the  Alps  into  full 
view  through  an  opening  between  the  nearer  hills. 
The  sun  was  shining  full  upon  them,  and  illumi- 
nating them  with  a  dazzling  white  light,  very 
beautiful,  but  without  any  rosy  hue. 

"  They  don't  look  rosy  at  all,"  said  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  not  now.  They  do 
not  take  the  rosy  hue  till  the  sun  has  gone  down." 

The  boatman  rowed  on  a  little  farther,  so  as  to 
obtain  a  still  better  view.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday 
watched  the  mountains  ;  but  Rollo  was  more  in- 
terested in  the  scene  immediately  around  him. 
He  watched  the  boats  that  were  plying  to  and  fro 
over  the  surface  of  the  lake,  and  the  different 
parties  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  them.  He 
gazed  on  the  quays,  too,  all  around,  and  on  the 
islet,  which  was  not  far  off,  and  on  the  people 
that  he  saw  there,  some  walking  to  and  fro,  and 
others  leaning  over  the  parapet  and  looking  out 
upon  the  water. 

"  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  see  if  there  is  a 
rudder." 

"  Yes,  father,  there  is,"  said  Rollo.  So  saying, 
he  climbed  over  the  seats,  between  his  father  and 
mother,  and  took  his  place  by  the  rudder. 

"  Steer  us,  then,  over  to  the  opposite  shore, 
wherever  you  see  there  is  a  pleasant  place  to 
land." 


112  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

The  travellers  meet  a  party  of  friends. 

Rollo  was  glad  and  sorry  both  to  receive  this 
command.  He  was  glad  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
steering,  but  he  was  sorry  that  his  father  intend- 
ed to  land.  He  would  have  preferred  remaining 
out  upon  the  water. 

He,  however,  obeyed  his  father's  command,  and 
steered  towards  the  farther  shore,  turning  the 
head  of  the  boat  in  an  oblique  direction,  a  little 
way  up  the  lake.  Presently  Mr.  Holiday  saw 
some  friends  of  his  in  a  boat  that  was  coming  in 
the  opposite  direction.  He  ordered  Rollo  to  steer 
towards  them.  Rollo  did  so,  and  soon  the  boats 
came  alongside.  The  oarsmen  of  both  boats 
stopped  rowing,  and  the  two  parties  in  them 
came  to  a  parley. 

There  was  a  little  girl  in  the  other  boat,  named 
Lucia.  There  was  no  other  child  in  that  boat, 
and  so  there  was  nobody  for  Lucia  to  play  with. 
Lucia  therefore  asked  her  father  and  mother  to 
allow  her  to  get  over  into  Mr.  Holiday's  boat,  so 
that  she  could  have  somebody  to  play  with. 

"  Why,  Lucia,"  said  her  mother,  "  Rollo  is  a 
great  boy.     He  is  too  big  to  play  with  you." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Lucia  ;  "  but  then  he  is  bettei 
than  nobody." 

Rollo  might  perhaps  have  been  made  to  feel 
somewhat  piqued  at  being  considered  by  a  young 
lady  as  only  better  than  nobody  for  a  companion, 


Seeing  Mont  Blanc    go   out.  113 

A  new  passenger.  Rollo  explaining  the  rudder  to  Lucia. 

had  it  not  been  for  the  nature  of  the  objection, 
which  was  mly  that  he  was  too  large.  So  he  felt 
complimented  rather  than  otherwise,  and  he  cor- 
dially seconded  Lucia's  wish  that  she  might  be 
transferred  to  his  father's  boat,  and  at  length  her 
mother  consented.  Lucia  stepped  carefully  over 
the  gunwales,  and  thus  got  into  Mr.  Holiday's 
boat.  She  immediately  passed  along  to  the  stern, 
and  took  her  place  by  the  side  of  Rollo  at  the 
rudder.  The  boats  then  separated  from  each 
other,  and  each  went  on  its  own  way. 

"  What  is  this  handle,"  said  Lucia,  "  that  you 
are  taking  hold  of  ?  " 

"  It  is  the  tiller,"  said  Rollo. 

"  And  what  is  it  for  ?  "  asked  Lucia. 

"  It  is  the  handle  of  the  rudder,"  said  Rollo. 
"  The  rudder  is  what  we  steer  the  boat  by,  and 
the  tiller  is  the  handle  of  it.  The  rudder  itself 
is  down  below  the  water." 

So  Rollo  let  Lucia  look  over  the  end  of  the 
boat  and  see  the  rudder  in  the  water. 

Rollo  then  proceeded  to  explain  the  operation 
of  the  rudder. 

"  You  see,"  said  he,  "  that  when  I  move  the 

tiller  over  this  way,  then  the  head  of  the  boat 

turns  the  other  way  ;  and  when  I  move  it  over 

that  way,  then  the  head  of  the  boat  comes  round 

8 


114  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Wood  yards  upon  the  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Genera. 

this  way.  The  head  of  the  boat  always  goes  the 
contrary  way." 

"I  don't  see  why  it  should  go  the  contrary 
way,"  said  Lucia,  "  I  should  think  it  ought  to  go 
the  same  way." 

"No,"  replied  Rollo;  "it  goes  the  contrary 
way.  And  now  I  am  going  to  steer  to  a  good 
place  to  land  on  the  shore  over  there." 

So  saying,  Rollo  pointed  to  the  shore  towards 
which  the  boat  was  going. 

The  boat  was  now  drawing  near  the  shore. 
There  was  first  a  landing,  where  several  small 
vessels  were  drawn  up,  and  immense  piles  of 
wood  in  great  wood  yards. 

This  wood  had  a  very  singular  appearance. 
The  bark  was  all  off,  and  the  ends  of  the  logs 
looked  rounded  and  worn,  as  if  they  had  been 
washed  in  the  water.  The  reason  was,  that  the 
wood  had  grown  on  the  sides  of  the  mountains, 
and  had  been  brought  down  to  the  lake  by  the 
torrents  which  pour  down  the  mountain  sides  with 
great  force  in  time  of  rain. 

"  We  won't  land  in  the  wood  yards  —  will 
we?"  said  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Lucia  ;  "  but  there's  a  pretty  place 
to  land,  a  little  farther  on." 

So  saying,  Lucia  pointed  to  a  very  pretty  part 
of  the  shore,  a  little  farther  on.     There  seemed 


Seeing  Mont  Blanc  go   out.  115 

Swiss  politeness.  Exploring  for  a  landing-place. 

to  be  a  garden,  and  a  little  green  lawn,  with  large 
trees  overshadowing  it ;  and  at  one  place  there 
was  a  projecting  point  where  there  was  a  summer 
house  with  a  table  in  it,  and  a  seat  outside,  near 
the  beach,  under  a  bower. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  that  is  a  very  pretty 
place  ;  but  it  looks  like  private  ground.  I  think 
we  must  not  land  there." 

As  the  boat  glided  by  this  place,  Rollo  and 
Lucia  saw  some  ladies  and  gentlemen  sitting  in 
the  summer  house.  The  gentlemen  took  off  their 
hats  and  bowed  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  as  they 
passed  by. 

Next  the  boat  came  to  a  place  where  there  was 
a  low  parapet  wall  along  the  shore,  and  behind 
it  were  to  be  seen  the  heads  of  a  number  of  men 
who  seemed  to  be  sitting  at  tables,  and  drinking 
coffee  or  beer. 

"  Here  is  a  good  place  to  land,"  said  Lucia. 

"  No,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  this  seems  to  be  some  sort 
of  public  place,  full  of  men.  We  had  better  go 
a  little  farther." 

So  Rollo  steered  on,  keeping  all  the  time  at 
just  a  safe  distance  from  the  shore.  The  water 
was  most  beautifully  transparent  and  clear,  so 
that  all  the  pretty  stones  and  pebbles  on  the  bot- 
tom could  be  seen  very  distinctly  at  a  great  depth. 

"  What  pretty  water !  "  said  Lucia. 


116  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

Why  the  water  was  clear.  A  pleasant  landing 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  it  is  so  clear." 

"  What  makes  it  so  clear  ?  "  asked  Lucia. 

"  Because  the  lake  is  so  long,"  said  Rollo,  "  and 
this  is  the  lower  end  of  it,  and  the  water  has  time 
to  settle.  At  the  other  end,  where  the  water 
comes  in,  it  is  not  so  clear.  This  is  the  end  where 
the  water  runs  out." 

A  moment  afterwards  they  came  to  a  very- 
pleasant  landing,  at  a  place  where  the  road  lay 
pretty  near  the  water.  Between  the  road  and 
the  water,  however,  there  was  a  space  of  green 
grass,  with  large  trees  overshadowing  it,  and  sev- 
eral wooden  settees,  painted  green,  under  the 
trees. 

"Ah!  said  Rollo,  "here  is  just  the  place 
for  us. 

"  Father,"  he  added,  "  do  you  think  it  would  be 
a  good  plan  to  land  here  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father ;  "  we  could  not  have 
had  a  better  place.  I  thought  you  would  find  a 
pleasant  landing  for  us  if  I  gave  you  the  com- 
mand." 

So  Rollo  brought  the  boat  up  to  the  shore,  and 
they  all  got  out.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  walked 
up  and  took  their  seats  on  one  of  the  settees, 
while  Rollo  and  Lucia  began  to  run  about  and 
play  along  the  parapet  wall  which  separated  the 
oromenade  from  the  water. 


Seeing   Mont  Blanc   go   out.  117 

The  head  of  Mont  Blanc.  The  heads  of  the  boys  swimming. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  watched  the  mountains. 
The  sun  had  now  just  gone  down,  though  his 
beams  still  tipped  the  summits  of  the  hills,  and 
were  reflected  from  the  windows  of  the  distant 
houses.  The  snow  on  the  mountains,  too,,  began 
to  assume  a  very  beautiful  rosy  hue,  which  in- 
creased in  brilliancy  the  farther  the  sun  went 
down,  and  the  more  the  lower  lands  became 
darkened. 

"  How  beautiful  it  is  !  "  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  It  is  very  beautiful  indeed,"  said  her  husband. 

"  Rollo,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  look  at  Mont 
Blanc.     See  how  bright  and  rosy  he  looks." 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and  look  out  on 
the  lake,  and  see  the  heads  of  those  two  boys 
swimming  in  the  water." 

"Are  those  the  heads  of  boys  ?"  asked  Mrs, 
Holiday. 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  Rollo  ;  "see  how  far  they 
are  swimming  out." 

When  Mrs.  Holiday  looked  back  at  the  moun- 
tain, she  found,  to  her  great  disappointment,  that 
the  rosy  color  which  had  appeared  so  beautiful  a 
moment  before  had  now  disappeared ;  and  the 
whole  snowy  side  of  the  range,  up  to  the  summits 
of  the  loftiest  peaks,  was  of  a  cold,  dead  white, 
as  if  the  rays  of  the  sun  had  been  entirely  w^h 
drawn. 


118  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

The  magnificent  sunset.  The  salute. 

"  Ah !  look !  "  she  said  to  Mr.  Holiday,  in  a 
tone  of  disappointment ;  "  Mont  Blanc  has  gone 
out  while  we  have  been  looking  another  way." 

Mr.  Holiday  gazed  intently  at  the  mountain, 
and  very  soon  he  saw  the  rosy  tint  beginning  to 
appear  again  on  one  of  the  summits,  more  brilliant 
than  ever. 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  the  sun  has  not  gone.  I 
thought  it  could  not  have  gone  down  so  soon. 
There  must  have  been  a  cloud  in  the  way." 

While  Mr.  Holiday  had  been  speaking,  the 
rekindling  of  the  mountain  had  gone  on  apace, 
and  now  the  whole  side  of  it  was  all  in  a  glow. 

Just  at  this  instant  Rollo  heard  the  sound  of  a 
gun.     Lucia  started  and  looked  alarmed. 

"  What  is  that  gun  ?  "  said  Rollo ;  "  and  where 
was  it  ?    Let  us  look  for  the  smoke." 

So  Rollo  and  Lucia,  leaning  over  the  parapet, 
began  to  look  all  about  among  the  boats  and 
vessels  of  the  lake,  and  along  the  opposite  shore, 
in  the  direction  from  which  the  sound  of  the 
report  had  seemed  to  come,  and  very  soon  their 
eyes  rested  upon  a  volume  of  blue  smoke  which 
was  ascending  from  the  bows  of  a  little  vessel 
that  had  just  come  in,  and  was  floating  off  grace- 
fully into  the  air. 

"  It  is  that  vessel  that  has  just  got  in,"  said 
Rollo. 


Seeing   Mont  Blanc   go  out.  lit1 

Mont  Blanc  in  the  sunset.  The  Swiss  child  at  play. 

"Rollo,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "look  at  the 
mountain." 

Rollo  turned  his  eye  for  a  moment  towards  the 
mountain.  All  the  lower  part  of  it  was  of  a 
cold  and  deathlike  whiteness,  while  the  tip  of 
the  summit  was  glowing  as  if  it  had  been  on  fire. 
He  was,  however,  too  much  interested  in  the 
smoke  of  the  gun  to  look  long  at  the  mountain. 

11  Hark  !  "  said  he  to  Lucia ;  "  let  us  see  if  they 
will  not  fire  again." 

They  did  not  fire  again  ;  and  just  as  Rollo 
began  to  give  up  expecting  that  they  would,  his 
attention,  as  well  as  that  of  Lucia,  was  attracted 
to  a  little  child  who  was  playing  with  a  small 
hammer  in  the  gravel  not  far  from  where  they 
were  standing.  The  mother  of  the  child  was 
sitting  on  a  bench  near  by,  knitting.  The  ham- 
mer was  small,  and  the  claw  of  it  was  straight 
and  flat.  The  child  was  using  it  for  a  hoe,  to 
dig  a  hole  in  the  gravel. 

"  Now,"  said  Rollo,  "  if  I  could  find  a  shingle 
any  where  about  here,  I  would  make  that  child  a 
shovel  to  dig  with." 

Rollo  looked  about,  but  there  was  nothing  like 
a  shingle  to  be  seen. 

In  a  few  minutes  his  father  called  him. 

"  Rollo,"  said  he,  "  we  are  going  back.  Mont 
Blanc  has  gone  out.     See !  " 


120  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

Returning  to  the  hotel.  The  band  of  music  on  the  islet. 

Rollo  looked.  He  saw  that  the  last  lingering 
rays  of  the  sun  had  gone  from  the  summit  of  the 
mountain,  though  they  still  gilded  a  small  rounded 
cloud  that  floated  just  above  it  in  the  sky. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo.  "  111  go  and  call  the 
boat." 

"  We  are  not  going  back  in  the  boat,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday  ;  "  we  have  concluded  to  walk  round  by 
land,  and  over  the  bridge.  It  will  be  better  for 
Lucia  to  go  with  us  ;  but  you  may  do  as  you 
please.  You  may  walk  with  us,  or  go  in  the 
boat  with  the  boatman." 

Rollo  at  first  thought  that  he  should  prefer  to 
go  in  the  boat ;  but  he  finally  concluded  to  accom- 
pany his  father  and  mother.  So  the  whole  party 
returned  together  by  a  pleasant  road  which  led 
through  a  village  by  the  shore. 

When  they  came  out  to  the  quay  they  heard  a 
band  of  music  playing.  The  band  was  stationed 
on  the  little  islet  which  has  already  been  de- 
scribed. The  party  stopped  on  the  bridge  to 
listen  ;  at  least  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  listened, 
but  Rollo  and  Lucia  occupied  themselves  the 
while  in  looking  down  in  the  clear  depths  of  the 
water,  which  was  running  so  swiftly  and  so  blue 
beneath  the  piers  of  the  bridge,  and  watching  to 
see  if  they  could  see  any  fishes  there.  Lucia 
thought  at  one  time  that  she  saw  one  ;  but  Rollo, 


Seeing   Moni   Blanc  go   out.  121 

What  Hollo  thought  of  the  sunset. 

on  examining  the  spot,  said  it  was  only  a  little 
crevice  of  the  rock  wiggling. 

"  What  makes  it  wiggle  ? "  asked  Lucia. 

"  The  little  waves  and  ripples  of  the  current," 
said  Rollo. 

When  Rollo  reached  the  hotel,  a  gentleman 
who  met  the  party  in  the  hall  said  to  him,  — 

"  Well,  Rollo,  have  yon  been  to  see  Mont 
Blanc  go  out  ?. n 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"  And  how  did  you  like  it  ? "  said  the  gen- 
tleman. 

"  I  liked  it  very  much  indeed,"  said  Rollo.  "  I 
think  it  was  sublime." 


122  Eollo    in    Geneva. 


Rollo  reminds  his  father  of  his  promise  to  take  a  sail. 


Chapter    IX. 
A  Law   Question. 

"  Now,  father,"  said  Rollo,  one  evening,  as  he 
was  sitting  at  the  window  with  his  father  and 
mother,  looking  out  upon  the  blue  waters  of  the 
Rhone,  that  were  shooting  so  swiftly  under  the 
bridges  beneath  the  windows  of  the  hotel,  "  you 
promised  me  that  you  would  take  as  long  a  sail 
on  the  lake  with  me  as  I  wished." 

"  Well,"  said  his  father,  "  I  acknowledge  the 
promise,  and  am  ready  to  perform  it." 

"  When  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  At  any  time,"  said  his  father. 

"  Then,  father,  let  us  go  to-morrow,"  said  Rollo. 
11  We  can't  go  to-night,  for  I  am  going  so  far  that 
it  will  take  all  day.  I  am  going  to  the  farther 
end  of  the  lake." 

"  Yery  well,"  said  his  father  ;  "  I  said  I  would 
take  as  long  a  sail  as  you  wished." 

"  And  I  will  go  this  evening  and  engage  a  sail 
boat,"  said  Rollo,  "  so  as  to  have  it  all  ready." 

There  was  always  quite  a  little  fleet  of  sail 


A   Law    Question.  123 

Engaging  a  boat.  Is  travelling  in  a  steamboat  sailing  ? 

boats  and  row  boats  of  all  kinds  lying  near  the 
principal  landing  at  the  quay,  ready  for  excur* 
sions.      Hollo's  plan  was  to  engage  one  of  these. 

"  No,"  said  his  father  ;  "  we  will  not  take  a  sail 
boat ;  we  will  take  a  steamboat." 

Besides  the  sail  boats  and  row  boats,  there 
were  a  number  of  large  and  handsome  steamboats 
plying  on  the  lake.  There  were  two  or  three 
that  left  in  the  morning,  between  seven  and  eight 
o'clock,  and  then  there  were  one  or  two  at  noon 
also.  Those  that  left  in  the  morning  had  time  to 
go  to  the  farther  end  of  the  lake  and  return  the 
same  day  ;  while  those  that  left  at  noon  came 
back  the  next  morning.  Thus,  to  see  the  lake,  you 
could  go  in  the  forenoon  of  one  day,  and  come 
back  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same,  or  you  could 
go  in  the  afternoon  of  one  day,  and  come  back  in 
the  morning  of  the  next. 

"  Which  would  you  do  ?  "  said  Mr.  Holiday  to 
Rollo. 

"  But,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  think  it  would  be 
pleasanter  to  go  in  a  sail  boat.  Besides,  you  said 
that  you  would  take  me  to  a  sail ;  and  going  in  a 
steamboat  is  not  sailing." 

"  What  is  it  doing  ?  "  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  Steaming,"  said  Rollo.  "  A  steamer  does  not 
sail  in  any  sense." 

Mr.  Holiday  smiled  and  then  paused.     He  was 


124  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Referring  a  question  to  an  umpire. 

reflecting,  apparently,  upon  what  Rollo  had  been 
saying. 

"  Then,  besides,"  said  Rollo,  "  don't  you  think, 
father,  it  would  be  pleasanter  to  go  in  a  sail 
boat?" 

"  The  first  question  is,"  said  Mr.  Holiday, 
"whether  I  am  bound  by  my  promise  to  go  with 
you  in  a  sail  boat,  if  you  prefer  it.  I  said  I  would 
take  you  to  a  sail.  Would  taking  you  in  a  steam- 
boat be  a  fulfilment  of  that  promise  ?  Suppose 
we  refer  the  question  to  an  umpire,  and  see  how 
he  will  decide  it." 

"  Yes  ;  but,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  if  you  think 
it  is  best  to  go  in  the  steamer,  I  should  not  insist 
upon  the  sail  boat,  by  any  means  ;  so  it  is  not 
necessary  to  leave  it  to  any  umpire.  I  will  give 
it  up." 

"  I  know  you  would  be  willing  to  give  it  up," 
said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  but  then  we  may  as  well 
first  ascertain  how  the  case  actually  stands.  Let 
us  first  determine  what  the  promise  binds  me  to. 
If  it  does  not  bind  me  to  go  in  a  sail  boat,  then  it  is 
all  right ;  there  will  be  no  need  of  any  giving  up. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  my  promise  does  bind  me 
to  go  in  a  sail  boat,  then  you  will  consider  whether 
you  will  release  me  from  it  or  not,  if  I  ask  it. 
Besides,  it  will  amuse  us  to  have  the  question 
regularly  decided ;    and   it  will  also  be  a  good 


A   Law    Quu&tion.  125 

Rollo  and  his  father  settling  a  law  question. 

lesson  for  you,  in  teaching  you  to  think  and  speak 
with  precision  when  you  make  promises,  and  to 
draw  exact  lines  in  respect  to  the  performance 
of  them." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  who  shall  be  the 
umpire  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Hall,"  said  his  father.  "  He  is  down  in 
the  dining  room  now,  taking  tea." 

Mr.  Hall  was  a  lawyer,  an  acquaintance  of 
Mr.  Holiday's,  whom  he  had  accidentally  met  at 
Geneva. 

"  He  is  a  lawyer,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  and  he 
will  be  a  very  good  umpire." 

"  Is  it  a  law  question  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Not  exactly  a  law  question,"  said  Mr.  Holi- 
day, "  but  all  such  questions  require  for  an  umpire 
a  man  who  is  accustomed  to  think  precisely. 
That  is  their  very  business.  It  is  true  that  there 
are  a  great  many  other  men  besides  lawyers  who 
think  precisely  ;  and  there  are  some  lawyers  who 
think  and  reason  very  loosely,  and  come  to  hasty 
and  incorrect  conclusions.  Still,  you  are  more 
likely  to  get  a  good  opinion  on  such  a  subject 
from,  a  lawyer  than  from  other  men  taken  at  ran- 
dom. So,  if  you  please,  you  may  go  down  and 
itate  the  question  to  Mr.  Hall,  and  I  will  abide 
Dy  his  decision." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  will," 


126  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Fair  ways  and  unfair  ways  of  putting  a  question. 

"  Only,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  you  must  state  the 
question  fairly.  Boys  generally,  when  they  go 
to  state  a  question  of  this  kind  in  which  they  are 
interested,  state  it  very  unfairly." 

"  How,  for  instance  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Why,  suppose,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  that  yon 
were  to  go  to  Mr.  Hall,  and  say, '  Mr.  Hall,  fathei 
promised  me  that  he  would  take  me  out  on  a  sail 
upon  the  lake,  as  far  as  I  wanted  to  go,  and  don't 
you  think  he  ought  to  do  it? ' " 

Rollo  laughed  heartily  at  this  mode  of  putting 
the  question.  "Yes,"  said  he,  "  that  sounds  ex 
actly  like  a  boy.  And  what  would  be  a  fair  way 
of  stating  it?" 

"  A  fair  way  would  be,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  to 
present  the  simple  question  itself,  without  any 
reference  to  your  own  interest  in  it,  and  without 
any  indication  whatever  of  your  own  wish  or 
opinion  in  respect,  to  the  decision  of  it ;  as,  for 
example,  thus :  '  Mr.  Hall,  I  have  a  question  to 
ask  you.  Suppose  one  person  promises  another 
that  he  will  take  him  out  to  sail  on  the  lake  on  a 
certain  day  ;  then,  when  the  day  comes,  the  prom- 
isor proposes  to  go  in  the  steamboat.  Would 
that  be  a  good  fulfilment  of  the  promise,  or  not  ? '" 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  will  state  it  so." 

So  Rollo  went  down  stairs  into  the  dining 
room.     There  were  various  parties  there,  seated 


A  Law    Question.  127 

What  the  lawyer  said.  Rollo  speaks  unadvisedly. 

at  the  different  tables.  Some  were  taking  tea 
some  were  looking  at  maps  and  guide  books,  and 
some  discussing  the  plan  of  their  tours.  One  of 
the  sofas  had  half  a  dozen  knapsacks  upon  it, 
which  belonged  to  a  party  of  pedestrians  that 
had  just  come  in. 

Rollo  looked  about  the  room,  and  presently 
saw  Mr.  Hall,  with  his  wife  and  daughter,  sitting 
at  a  table  near  a  window.  He  went  to  him,  and 
stated  the  question. 

The  lawyer  heard  Rollo  attentively  to  the  end, 
and  then,  instead  of  answering  at  once,  0,  yes, 
or  0,  no,  as  Rollo  had  expected,  he  seemed  to 
stop  to  consider. 

"  That  is  quite  a  nice  question,"  said  Mr.  Hall. 
"Let  us  look  at  it.  The  point  is,  whether  an 
excursion  in  a  steamboat  is  a  sail,  in  the  sense 
intended  by  the  promise." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo ;  "  that  is  the  point  ex- 
actly.    I  think  it  is  not ;  father  thinks  it  is." 

The  instant  that  these  words  were  out  of  Rollo's 
mouth  he  was  sorry  that  he  had  spoken  them  ;  for 
by  speaking  them  he  had  furnished  an  indication 
to  the  umpire  of  what  his  own  opinion  and  his 
own  interests  were  in  respect  to  the  decision, 
which  it  never  is  fair  to  do  in  such  a  case,  when 
the  other  party  is  not  present  to  express  his  views 
and  advocate  his  interests.  The  words  once 
spoken,  however,  could  not  be  recalled. 


128  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Arguing  the  case.  The  right  rules  for  interpreting  contracts. 

"  Steamboats  are  certainly  not  propelled  by 
sails,"  said  the  lawyer,  "  but  yet  we  often  apply 
the  word  sailing  to  them.  We  say,  for  instance, 
fcjat  a  certain  steamer  will  sail  on  such  or  such 
a  day.  So  we  say,  There  was  no  news  from  such 
or  such  a  place  when  the  steamer  sailed." 

"  But  it  seems  to  me,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  the 
question  is  not  what  people  call  it,  but  what  it 
really  is.  The  going  of  a  steamboat  is  certainly 
not  sailing,  in  any  sense." 

It  was  quite  ingenious  arguing  on  Rollo's  part, 
it  must  be  acknowledged  ;  but  then  it  was  wholly 
out  of  order  for  him  to  argue  the  question  at  all. 
He  should  have  confined  himself  strictly  to  a- 
simple  statement  of  the  point,  since,  as  his  father 
was  not  present  to  defend  his  side  of  the  question, 
it  was  obviously  not  fair  that  Rollo  should  urge 
and  advocate  his. 

11  It  might,  at  first  view,"  said  Mr.  Hall, "  seem 
to  be  as  you  say,  and  that  the  question  would  be 
solely  what  the  steamer  actually  does.  But,  on 
reflection,  you  will  see  that  it  is  not  exactly  so. 
Contracts  and  promises  are  made  in  language : 
ind  in  making  them,. people  use  language  as  other 
people  use  it,  and  it  is  to  be  interpreted  in  that 
way.  For  instance :  suppose  a  lodging-house 
keeper  in  the  country  should  agree  to  furnish  a 
lady  a  room  in  the  summer  where  the  sun  did  not 


A   Law    Question.  129 

Mr.  Hall  decides  in  favor  of  the  sail  boat. 

come  in  at  all,  and  then  should  give  her  one  on  the 
south  side  of  the  house,  which  was  intolerably  hot, 
and  should  claim  that  he  had  fulfilled  his  agree- 
meut  because  the  ,sun  did  not  itself  come  into  the 
room  at  all,  but  only  shone  in  ;  that  would  not  be 
a  good  defence.  We  must  interpret  contracts  and 
promises  according  to  the  ordinary  use  and  cus- 
tom of  people  in  the  employment  of  language. 

"  Still,"  said  Mr.  Hall,  "  although  we  certainly 
do  apply  the  simple  term  sailing  to  a  steamer,  I 
hardly  think  that  a  trip  in  a  steamer  on  a  regu- 
lar and  established  route  would  be  called,  accord- 
ing to  the  ordinary  and  established  use  of  lan- 
guage, taking  a  sail.  Was  that  the  promise  — 
that  one  party  would  go  with  the  other  to  take  a 
sail  on  the  lake  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Hollo ;  "  he  promised  to  go 
and  take  a  sail  with  me  on  the  lake,  as  far  as  I 
wanted  to  go." 

"  Then,"  said  Mr.  Hall,  "  I  should  think,  on  the 
whole,  that,  in  such  a  place  as  this,  where  there 
are  so  many  regular  sail  boats,  and  where  excur- 
sions on  the  lake  in  them  are  so  common  and  so 
well  recognized  as  a  distinct  amusement,  the 
phrase  taking  a  sail  ought  to  be  held  to  mean 
going  in  a  sail  boat,  and  that  making  a  voyage  in 
a  steamer  would  not  be  fulfilling  the  promise." 

Kollo  was  extremely  delighted  in  ha  ring  thus 
9 


130  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

Rollo  and  hi9  father  compare  the  advantages  of  the  steamboat  and  sail  boat 

gained  his  case,  and  he  went  back  to  report  the 
result  to  his  father,  in  a  state  of  great  exultation. 

After  communicating  to  his  father  the  decision 
of  the  umpire,  Rollo  said  that,  after  all,  he  did 
not  wish  to  go  in  a  sail  boat  if  his  father  thought 
i  t  best  to  go  in  a  steamer. 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  that  depends  upon 
how  far  we  go.  It  is  pleasant  enough  to  go  out 
a  short  distance  on  the  water  in  a  sail  boat,  but 
for  a  long  excursion  the  steamer  is  generally  con- 
sidered much  pleasanter.  In  a  sail  boat  you  are 
down  very  low,  near  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  so  you  have  no  commanding  views.  Then 
you  have  no  shelter  either  from  the  sun,  if  it  is 
clear,  or  from  the  rain,  if  it  is  cloudy.  You  are 
closely  confined,  too,  or  at  least  you  can  move 
about  only  a  very  little  ;  whereas  in  the  steamer 
there  is  plenty  of  space,  and  there  are  a  great 
many  groups  of  people,  and  little  incidents  are 
constantly  occurring  to  amuse  you." 

"  Besides,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  if  you  go  in  the 
steamer,  I  can  go  with  you." 

"  Why,  mother,  could  not  you  go  in  a  sail  boat 
too?" 

4< No,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday ;  "I  am  afraid  of 
sail  boats." 

"  0  mother ! "  said  Rollo  ;  "  there  is  not  any 
danger  at  all." 


A  Law    Question.  131 

The  dangers  of  sailing.  Rollo  engages  a  boat. 

"  Yes,  Rollo,"  said  his  father,  "  there  is  some 
danger,  for  sail  boats  do  sometimes  upset." 

"  And  steamboats  sometimes  blow  up,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  True,"  said  his  father  ;  "  but  that  only  shows 
that  there  is  danger  in  steamboats  too — not  that 
there  is  no  danger  in  sail  boats." 

"  Well,  what  I  mean,"  said  Rollo,  "  is,  that 
there  is  very  little  danger,  and  that  mother  has 
no  occasion  to  be  afraid." 

"  There  is  very  little  danger,  I  grant,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday  ;  "  but  there  is  just  enough  to  keep  ladies, 
who  are  less  accustomed  to  the  water  than  we 
are,  almost  all  the  time  uneasy,  and  thus  to  de- 
stroy for  them  the  pleasure  of  the  excursion. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  I  think  will  be  the  best 
plan.  You  and  I  will  go  out  and  take  a  little 
sail  to-night  on  the  lake  in  a  sail  boat,  and  mother 
may  stay  and  watch  us  from  the  window,  as  she 
reads  and  sews.  Then  to-morrow  we  will  go 
together  to  make  an  excursion  on  the  lake." 

Rollo  liked  this  plan  very  much  indeed,  and 
his  father  sent  him  down  to  the  landing  to  engage 
the  boat.  "  I  will  come  down,"  said  Mr.  Holiday, 
"  by  the  time  you  get  ready." 

So  Rollo  went  down  and  engaged  a  boat.  It 
was  rigged,  as  all  the  boats  on  the  Lake  of  Ge- 
neva are,  with  what  are  called  lateen  sails.     His 


132  Kollo    in    Geneva. 

Rollo  and  his  father  t  n  the  lake.  The  siguals. 

father  soon  came  down,  and  they  immediately 
embarked  on  board  the  boat,  and  sailed  away 
from  the  landing.  As  the  boat  moved  away 
Rollo  waved  his  handkerchief   to   his   mother 


GOING   TO   TAKE   A   SAIL. 


whom  he  saw  sitting  on  the  balcony  of  the  hotel, 
waving  hers  to  him. 
Rollo  and  his  father  sailed  about  the  lake  for 


A   Law    Question. 


133 


Mr.  Holiday's  account  of  the  trip. 


nearly  an  hour.  Mr.  Holiday  said  it  was  one  of 
the  pleasantest  sails  he  ever  had  in  his  life,  and 
that  he  was  very  glad  indeed  that  Mr.  Hall  de- 
cided against  him. 

He  gave  Hollo's  mother  a  full  account  of  the 
excursion  when  he  got  home. 

"  The  water  was  very  smooth,"  said  he,  "  and 
the  air  was  cool  and  balmy.  There  was  a  gentle 
breath  of  wind,  just  enough  to  float  us  smoothly 
and  quietly  over  the  water.  We  had  charming 
views  of  the  town  and  of  the  shores  of  the  lake. 
and  also  of  the  stupendous  ranges  of  snow-cov- 
ered mountains  beyond." 


134  Eollo   in   Geneva 


How  to  plan  excursions  among  the  Alps. 


Chapter    X. 
An  Excursion  on  the  Lake. 

The  Lake  of  Geneva  is  shaped,  as  has  already 
oeen  said,  like  the  new  moon.  One  of  the  horns 
is  towards  the  west ;  the  other  is  towards  the 
south.    Geneva  is  at  the  tip  of  the  western  horn. 

Of  course,  in  sailing  from  Geneva  to  the  other 
end  of  the  lake,  we  go  from  the  west  towards  the 
east ;  and  this  renders  it  rather  more  agreeable 
to  make  the  excursion  by  an  afternoon  boat  than 
by  a  morning  one  ;  for  in  the  afternoon,  the  sun, 
being  then  in  the  western  part  of  the  sky,  will  be 
behind  you,  and  so  will  not  shine  in  your  face ; 
but,  instead  of  shining  in  your  face  and  dazzling 
your  eyes,  it  will  be  shining  upon  and  illuminat- 
ing brilliantly  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  that 
you  are  going  to  see.  In  other  words,  in  the 
morning  the  mountains  are  in  shadow  and  the 
6im  iti  your  eyes ;  in  the  evening  your  eyes  are 
shaded,  and  the  mountains  glow  with  brilliancy 
and  beauty. 

It  is  often  very  important  to  take  notice  thus 


An  Excursion  on  the  Lake.  135 

A  soene  on  the  quay  of  GeneTa. 

of  the  manner  in  which  the  sun  shines  in  different 
parts  of  the  day,  in  planning  excursions  among 
the  Alps. 

The  middle  of  the  day  is  a  very  exciting  and 
animating  time  on  the  quay  at  Geneva.  It  is 
then  that  the  boats  which  left  the  other  end  of 
the  lake  in  the  morning  are  expected  to  arrive  ; 
and  a  great  concourse  of  porters,  guides,  postil- 
ions, and  bystanders  of  all  sorts  assemble  to 
receive  the  travellers.  As  the  boats  come  in,  it 
is  very  amusing  to  sit  on  the  balconies,  or  at  the 
windows  of  the  hotels  which  overlook  the  quay, 
and  watch  the  procession  of  tourists  as  they  come 
over  the  plank  to  land.  There  are  family  groups 
consisting  of  fathers,  mothers,  and  children,  fol- 
lowed by  porters  bearing  immense  trunks,  while 
they  themselves  are  loaded  with  shawls,  cloaks, 
umbrellas,  and  carpet  bags ;  and  parties  of  stu- 
dents, with  all  their  travelling  effects  in  knap- 
sacks on  their  backs ;  and  schoolboys  who  have 
been  making  a  tour  of  the  Alps  with  their  teacher  ; 
and  young  brides,  almost  equally  proud  of  their 
husbands,  of  the  new  dignity  of  their  own  posi- 
tion, and  of  the  grandeur  of  an  Alpine  bridal 
tour.  All  these  people,  and  the  hundreds  of  spec- 
tators that  assemble  to  see  them,  fill  the  quay, 
and  form  a  very  animated  and  exciting  spectacle. 

When  the  time  approaches  for  a  boat  to  sail, 


13G  Rollo  in    Geneva. 

Travellers,  porters,  and  soldiers.  Embarking. 

which  is  in  half  an  hour  after  she  arrives,  we 
have  a  counterpart  of  this  scene,  the  direction  of 
the  current  only  being  reversed.  The  tourists 
now  go  to  the  boat,  the  porters,  with  their  bag- 
gage, preceding  them.  A  soldier  stands  at  the 
entrance  to  the  plank,  to  look  at  the  passports. 
Lines  of  officials  on  each  side  guard  the  way. 
On  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  as  soon  as  you  get 
on  board,  you  find  a  great  variety  of  picturesque 
looking  groups,  all,  however,  having  the  air  of 
being  travellers  for  pleasure.  Some  are  arranging 
themselves  in  good  seats  for  seeing  the  scenery. 
Others  take  out  their  maps  and  guide  books,  and 
prepare  to  read  the  descriptions  of  the  places 
that  they  are  going  to  see.  Here  and  there  chil- 
Iren  are  to  be  seen  —  the  boys  with  little  knap- 
sacks, and  the  girls  wearing  very  broad-brimmed 
Swiss  hats  —  neither  paying  any  attention  to  the 
scenery,  but  amusing  themselves  with  whatever 
they  find  at  hand  to  play  with  —  one  with  a  little 
dog,  another  with  a  doll  which  has  been  bought 
for  her  at  Geneva,  and  a  third,  perhaps,  with  a 
whip,  or  a  little  wagon. 

Rollo  took  his  seat  by  the  side  of  his  father 
and  mother,  in  the  midst  of  such  a  scene  as  this, 
on  the  day  of  their  embarkation,  and  occupied 
himself  sometimes  by  looking  at  the  shores  of 
the  lake  and  the  mountains  beyond,  and  some 


An   Excursion  on  the   Lake.  131 

Landing  passengers  by  boats. 

times  by  watching  the  movements  and  actions  of 
the  various  groups  of  tourists  before  him.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  boat  left  the  landing,  and  be- 
gan to  glide  along  rapidly  on  her  way  over  tho 
surface  of  the  water. 

The  shores  of  the  lake  are  very  fertile  and 
populous,  and  at  every  eight  or  ten  miles,  espe- 
cially on  the  northern  shore,  you  come  to  a  large 
town.  The  steamboats  stop  at  these  towns  to 
take  and  leave  passengers.  They  do  not,  in  such 
cases,  usually  land  at  a  pier,  but  the  passengers 
come  and  go  in  large  boats,  and  meet  the  steamer 
at  a  little  way  from  the  shore.  Rollo  used  to 
take  great  pleasure  in  going  forward  to  the  bows 
of  the  steamer,  and  watch  these  boats  as  they 
came  out  from  the  shore.  If  there  were  two  of 
them,  they  would  come  out  so  far  that  the  track 
of  the  steamer  should  lie  between  them,  and  then, 
when  the  steamer  stopped  her  paddles,  they  would 
come  up,  one  on  one  side  and  the  other  on  the 
other,  and  the  passengers  would  come  up  on  board 
by  means  of  a  flight  of  steps  let  down  from  the 
steamer,  just  abaft  the  paddle  boxes.  When  the 
passengers  had  thus  come  up,  the  baggage  would 
be  passed  up  too  ;  and  then  those  passengers  who 
wished  to  go  ashore  at  that  place  would  go  down 
the  steps  in  the  boats,  and  when  all  were  em- 
barked, the  boats  would  cast  off  from  the  steamer, 


i 38  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

How  they  collect  the  fares  on  the  Swiss  steamer. 

and  the  steamer  would  go  on  her  way  as  before. 
The  boats  then  would  row  slowly  to  the  land, 
with  the  passengers  in  them  that  were  to  stop  at 
that  place. 

The  way  of  paying  tor  one  s  passage  on  beard 
these  boats  was  very  different  from  that  adopted 
in  America.  There  was  no  colored  waiter  to  go 
about  the  decks  and  saloons  ringing  a  bell,  and 
calling  out,  in  a  loud  and  authoritative  voice, 
Passengers  who  haven't  settled  their  fare  will 
please  call  at  the  captain's  office  and  settle.  In- 
stead of  this,  the  clerk  of  the  boat  came  himself, 
after  each  landing,  to  the  new  passengers  that 
had  come  on  board  at  that  landing,  and,  touching 
his  hat  to  them,  in  the  most  polite  manner,  asked 
them  to  what  place  they  wished  to  go.  He  had  a 
little  slate  in  his  hand,  with  the  names  of  all  the 
towns  where  the  steamer  was  to  touch  marked 
upon  it.  As  the  several  passengers  to  whom  he 
applied  gave  him  the  name  of  ',he  place  of  their 
destination,  he  made  a  mark  opposite  to  the  name 
of  the  place  on  his  slate.  When  he  had  in  this 
way  applied  to  all  the  new  comers,  he  went  to 
the  office  and  provided  himself  with  the  proper 
number  of  tickets  for  each  place,  and  then  went 
round  again  to  distribute  them.  In  going  around 
thus  a  second  time,  to  distribute  the  tickets,  he 
took  a  cash  box  with  him  to  make  change.     This 


An  Excursion  on  the  Lake.  139 

Why  we  could  not  do  bo  in  America. 

cash  box  was  slimg  before  him  by  means  of  a 
Btrap  about  the  neck. 

"  How  much  more  polite  and  agreeable  a  mode 
this  is  of  collecting  the  fares,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday 
to  her  husband,  "  than  ours  in  America !  There  a 
boy  conies  around,  dinging  a  bell  in  every  body's 
ears,  and  then  the  gentlemen  have  to  go  in  a 
crowd  and  elbow  their  way  up  to  the  window  of 
the  captain's  office.  I  wish  we  could  have  some 
of  these  polite  and  agreeable  customs  introduced 
into  our  country." 

"  They  are  very  agreeable,"  said  Mr.  Holiday, 
"  and  are  very  suitable  for  pleasure  travel  like 
this,  where  the  boats  are  small,  and  the  number 
of  passengers  few ;  but  I  presume  it  would  be 
very,  difficult  to  collect  the  fares  in  this  way  on  a 
North  River  steamer,  where  there  are  sometimes 
a  thousand  passengers  on  board.  Here  there  are 
usually  not  more  than  eight  or  ten  passengers 
that  come  on  board  at  a  time,  and  they  mix  with 
only  fifty  or  sixty  that  were  on  board  before. 
But  in  America  we  often  have  fifty  or  sixty  come 
on  board  at  a  time,  and  they  mix  with  eight  hun- 
dred or  a  thousand.  In  such  a  case  as  that  I 
think  that  this  plan  would  be  well  nigh  impraxj* 
ticable." 

"  I  did  not  think  of  that,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  The  difference  between  the  circumstances  of 


140  Rollo   in   Geneva. 


The  difference  between  the  travelling  facilities  here  and  in  Switzerland. 

the  case  in  Europe  and  in  America  is  very  often 
not  thought  of  by  travellers  who  find  themselves 
wishing  that  the  European  customs  in  respect  to 
travelling  and  the  hotels  could  be  introduced 
into  our  country.  In  Europe  the  number  of  trav- 
ellers is  comparatively  small,  and  a  very  large 
proportion  of  those  who  make  journeys  go  for 
pleasure.  The  arrangements  can  all,  conse- 
quently, be  made  to  save  them  trouble,  and  to 
make  the  journey  agreeable  to  them  ;  and  the 
price  is  increased  accordingly.  In  America,  peo- 
ple travel  on  business,  and  they  go  in  immense 
numbers.  Their  main  object  is,  to  be  taken  safely 
and  expeditiously  to  the  end  of  their  journey,  and 
at  as  little  expense  as  possible.  The  arrange- 
ments of  the  conveyances  and  of  the  hotels  are 
all  made  accordingly.  The  consequence  is,  a  vast 
difference  in  the  expense  of  travelling,  and  a  cor- 
responding difference,  of  course,  to  some  extent, 
in  ease  and  comfort.  The  price  of  passage,  for 
instance,  in  the  Geneva  steamboats,  from  one  end 
of  the  lake  to  the  other,  a  distance  of  about  fifty 
miles,  is  two  dollars,  without  berth  or  meals ; 
whereas  you  can  go  from  New  York  to  Albany, 
which  is  more  than  three  times  as  far,  for  half  a 
dollar.  This  difference  is  owing  to  the  number 
of  travellers  that  go  in  the  American  boats,  and 
the  wholesale  character,  so  to  speak,  of  the  arrange- 
ments made  for  them. 


An   Excursion   on  the  Lake.  141 

How  far  shall  we  go  ?  Lausanne.  Ouchy. 

"  In  other  words,  the  passengers  in  a  public 
conveyance  in  Europe  are  not  only  conveyed 
from  place  to  place,  but  they  are  waited  upon  by 
the  way,  and  they  have  to  pay  both  for  the  con- 
veyance and  the  attendance.  In  America  they 
are  only  conveyed,  and  are  left  to  wait  upon  them- 
selves ;  and  they  are  charged  accordingly.  Each 
plan  is  good,  and  each  is  adapted  to  the  wants 
and  ideas  of  the  countries  that  respectively  adopt 
them." 

"  Shall  we  go  to  the  end  of  the  lake  to-day  ?  " 
said  Mr.  Holiday,  li  or  only  part  of  the  way  ? 
The  clerk  will  come  pretty  soon  to  ask  us." 

"  Are  there  any  pretty  places  to  stop  at  on  the 
way  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  husband  ;  "  all  the  places  are 
pretty." 

"  Tell  us  about  some  of  them,"  said  Rollo. 

"First  there  is  Lausanne,"  said  his  father 
"  Lausanne  is  a  large  town  up  among  the  hills,  a 
mile  or  two  from  the  water.  There  is  a  little 
port,  called  Ouchy,  on  the  shore,  where  the  steamer 
stops1..  There  there  is  a  landing  and  a  pier,  and 
some  pretty  boarding  houses,  with  gardens  and 
grounds  around  them,  and  a  large,  old-fashioned 
inn,  built  like  a  castle  of  the  middle  ages,  but 
kept  very  nicely.  We  can  stop  there,  and  go  up 
in  an  omnibus  to  Lausanne,  which  is  a  large,  old 
town,  two  miles  up  the  side  of  the  mountain. 


142  Rollo  is   Geneva. 

Vevay.  The  party  decide  to  land  at  Oachy. 

"  Then,  secondly,"  continued  Mr.  Holiday, "  there 
is  Vevay,  which  is  famous  for  a  new  and  fashion- 
able hotel  facing  the  lake,  with  a  beautiful  ter- 
race between  it  and  the  water,  where  you  can  sit 
on  nice  benches  under  the  trees,  and  watch  the 
steamers  going  by  over  the  blue  waters  of  the 
lake,  or  the  row  boats  and  sail  boats  coming  and 
going  about  the  terrace  landing,  or  the  fleecy 
clouds  floating  along  the  sides  of  the  dark  moun- 
tains around  the  head  of  the  lake." 

"  I  should  like  to  stop  at  both  places,"  said 
Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Then  we  will  stop  at  Ouchy  to-night,"  said 
Mr.  Holiday,  "  for  that  comes  first." 

So  it  was  decided  that  they  should  take  tickets 
for  Ouchy. 

The  boat  at  Ouchy  did  not  land  passengers  by 
boats,  but  went  up  to  the  pier.  Only  a  few  pas- 
sengers went  ashore.  The  pier  was  at  some  little 
distance  from  the  hotel,  the  way  to  it  being  by  a 
quiet  and  pleasant  walk  along  the  shore. 

There  was  an  omnibus  marked  Lausanne  stand- 
ing at  the  head  of  the  pier. 

"  Now,  we  can  get  into  the  omnibus,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday,  "  and  go  directly  up  to  Lausanne,  or  we 
can  go  to  the  hotel  here,  and  take  lodgings,  and 
then  go  up  to  Lausanne  to  see  the  town  after 
dinner." 


An  Excursion   on  the  Lake.  143 

The  women  porters.  The  old  inn  at  Ouchy. 

It  was  at  this  time  about  four  o'clock.  The 
usual  time  of  dinner  for  travellers  in  Switzerland 
is  five. 

Mrs.  Holiday,  observing  that  the  hotel  at 
Ouchy  was  very  prettily  situated,  close  to  the 
water,  and  recollecting  that  her  husband  had 
said  that  it  resembled  in  its  character  a  castle  of 
the  middle  ages,  concluded  that  she  would  like  as 
well  to  take  rooms  there. 

A  woman  with  a  queer-shaped  basket  on  her 
back,  which  she  carried  by  means  of  straps  over 
her  shoulders,  here  came  up  to  Mr.  Holiday,  and 
asked  if  she  should  take  the  baggages  to  the  inn. 
Mr.  Holiday  said  yes.  So  she  put  the  valise  and 
the  carpet  bag  into  her  basket,  and  walked  away 
with  them  to  the  inn. 

Women  often  act  as  porters  in  France  and 
Switzerland,  and  they  perform,  also,  all  sorts  of 
out-door  work.  They  use  these  baskets,  too,  very 
often,  for  carrying  burdens.  Rollo  afterwards 
saw  a  woman  take  her  child  out  to  ride  in  one 
of  them. 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  extremely  pleased  with  the 
inn  at  Ouchy.  She  said  that  she  should  like  to 
remain  there  a  week.  It  seemed  precisely,  with 
its  antique-looking  rooms,  and  long  stone  paved 
corridors,  like  the  castles  which  she  had  read 
about  when  she  was  a  girl  in  the  old  romances. 


144  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

Riding  into  the  country.  Lord  Byron's  room. 

After  dinner,  Mr.  Holiday  sent  for  a  carriage, 
and  took  Mrs.  Holiday  and  Rollo  to  lide.  They 
went  up  the  ascent  of  land  behind  the  town,  the 
road  winding  as  it  went  among  green  and  beauti- 
ful glades  and  dells,  but  still  always  ascending 
until  they  came  to  Lausanne.  This  was  nearly 
two  miles  from  the  lake,  and  very  much  above  it. 
From  Lausanne  they  went  back  still  farther, 
ascending  all  the  time,  and  obtaining  more  and 
more  commanding  views  of  the  lake  at  every 
turn. 

When  the  sun  went  down,  they  turned  their 
faces  homeward.  They  came  down,  of  course, 
very  fast,  the  road  winding  continually  this  way 
and  that,  to  make  the  descent  more  gradual.  At 
length,  about  half  past  eight,  they  returned  to 
the  inn. 

The  landlady  of  the  inn,  who  was  very  kind 
and  obliging  to  them,  took  them  to  see  a  room  in 
her  hotel  where  Lord  Byron  wrote  his  celebrated 
poem  entitled  the  Prisoner  of  Chillon.  Chil- 
lon  is  an  ancient  castle  which  stands  on  the  shore, 
twenty  or  thirty  miles  beyond,  and  very  near,  in 
fact,  to  the  extremity  of  the  lake.  Byron  has 
made  this  castle  renowned  throughout  the  world 
by  spending  a  few  days,  while  he  was  stopped  at 
this  inn  at  Ouchy  by  a  storm,  when  travelling  on 
the  lake,  in  writing  a  poem  in  which  he  describes 


An  Excursion   on  the  Lake.  145 

The  Castle  of  Chillon.  Description  of  the  head  of  the  lake. 

the  emotions  and  sufferings  of  some  imaginary 
prisoners  v  horn  he  supposed  to  be  confined  there. 

"  Can  we  go  to  see  the  Castle  of  Chillon  ? " 
said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "We  shall  sail 
directly  by  it  in  going  to  the  head  of.  the  lake, 
and  if  we  stop  there  we  can  go  to  it  very  easily." 

The  head  of  the  lake  —  that  is,  the  eastern  end 
of  it  —  is  surrounded  with  mountains,  the  slopes 
of  which  seem  to  rise  very  abruptly  from  the 
water,  and  ascend  to  such  a  height  that  patches 
of  snow  lie  on  the  summits  of  them  all  the  sum- 
mer. These  mountains,  especially  if  overshad- 
owed by  clouds,  give  a  very  dark  and  sombre 
expression  to  the  whole  region  when  seen  from  a 
distance,  in  coming  in  from  the  centre  of  the  lake. 
This  sombre  expression,  however,  entirely  disap- 
pears when  you  arrive  at  the  head  of  the  lake, 
and  land  there. 

You  would  not  suppose,  when  viewing  these 
shores  from  a  distance,  that  there  was  any  place 
to  land,  so  closely  do  the  precipitous  slopes  of  the 
mountains  seem  to  shut  the  water  in.  But  on 
drawing  near  the  shore,  you  see  that  there  is  a 
pretty  broad  belt  of  land  along  the  shore,  which, 
though  it  ascends  rapidly,  is  not  too  steep  to  be 
cultivated.  This  belt  of  land  is  covered  with 
villages,  hamlets,  vineyards,  orchards,  and   gar 

10 


146  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

The  location  and  appearance  of  the  Castle  of  Cliillon. 

dens,  and  it  forms  a  most  enchanting  series  of 
landscapes,  from  whatever  point  it  is  seen,  while 
the  more  precipitous  slopes  of  the  mountains,  tow- 
ering above  in  grandeur  and  sublimity,  complete 
the  enchantment  of  the  view. 

The  Castle  of  Chillon  stands  on  the  very  mar- 
gin of  the  lake,  just  in  the  edge  of  the  water. 
Indeed,  the  foundations  on  which  it  stands  form 
a  little  island,  which  is  separated  by  a  narrow 
channel  from  the  shore.  This  channel  is  crossed 
by  a  drawbridge.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  it 
may  be  in  some  measure  artificial.  The  island 
may  have  originally  been  a  small  rocky  point, 
and  it  may  have  been  made  an  island  by  the  cut- 
ting of  a  ditch  between  it  and  the  main  land. 

The  steamer  passed  along  the  shore,  very  near 
to  this  castle,  in  going  to  the  head  of  the  lake,  as 
you  see  represented  in  the  engraving.*  There  is 
no  steamboat  landing  at  the  castle  itself,  but  there 
is  one  at  the  village  of  Montreux,  a  little  before 
you  come  to  it,  and  another  at  Villeneuve,  a  little 
beyond.  Clumbers  of  tourists  come  in  every 
steamer  to  visit  the  castle,  and  stop  for  this  pur- 
pose at  one  of  these  landings  or  the  other.  The 
distance  is  only  twenty  minutes'  brisk  walking 
from  either  of  them. 

Villeneuve,  the  last  landing  mentioned  above, 

*  See  Frontispiece. 


An  Excursion  on   the  Lake.  117 

Objects  of  interest  to  tourists  at  the  head  of  the  lake. 

is  at  the  very  extremity  of  the  lake.  We  see  it 
in  the  distance  in  the  engraving.  Here  travellers 
who  are  going  to  continue  their  journey  up  the 
valley  of  the  Rhone,  either  for  the  purpose  of 
penetrating  into  the  heart  of  Switzerland,  or  of 
going  by  the  pass  of  the  Siniplon  into  Italy,  leave 
the  boat  and  take  the  diligence  to  continue  their 
journey  by  land,  or  else  engage  a  private  car- 
riage, and  also  a  guide,  if  they  wish  for  one.  Mr. 
Holiday  did  not  intend  at  this  time  to  go  on  far 
up  the  valley,  but  he  purposed  to  siop  a  day  or 
two  at  Yilleneuve,  to  visit  Chillon,  and  perhaps 
make  some  other  excursions,  and  also  to  enjoy  the 
views  presented  there,  on  all  sides,  of  the  slopes 
ar.d  summits  of  the  surrounding  mountains. 


148  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

Tho  pier  of  Villeneuve.  The  inn.  The  Btoomor. 


Chapter    XI. 

YlLLENEUVE. 

At  Villeneuve,  a  pretty  long,  though  small  and 
very  neatly  made  pier  projects  out  from  the  shore, 
for  the  landing  of  passengers  from  the  steamer. 

Exactly  opposite  this  pier,  and  facing  the  water, 
stands  the  inn.  It  is  placed  very  nearly  on  a 
level  with  the  water.  This  can  always  be  the 
case  with  buildings  standing  on  the  margin  of  a 
lake,  for  a  lake  not  being  subject  to  tides  or  inun- 
dations, all  buildings,  whether  houses,  bridges,  or 
piers,  may  be  built  very  near  the  water,  without 
any  danger  of  being  overflowed. 

Before  the  inn  is  an  open  space,  extending  be- 
tween it  and  the  shore;  so  that  from  the  front 
windows  of  the  inn  you  can  look  down  first  upon 
this  open  space,  and  beyond,  upon  the  margin  of 
the  lake  and  upon  the  pier,  with  the  steamer 
lying  at  the  landing-place  at  the  head  of  it. 

The  sides  of  this  square,  Rollo  observed,  were 
formed  of  the  ends  of  two  buildings  which  stood 
on  the  shore,  and  along  this  space  were  wooden 


VlLLENEUVS.  149 

The  tourists  landing  at  Villeneuvo. 

benches,  which  were  filled,  when  the  steamer 
arrived,  with  guides,  postilions,  voituriers,  and 
other  people  of  that  class,  waiting  to  be  engaged 
by  the  travellers  that  should  come  in  her. 

There  were  also  two  or  three  omnibuses  and 
diligences  waiting  to  receive  such  persons  as 
were  intending  to  travel  by  the  public  convey- 
ances. One  of  these  omnibuses  belonged  to  a 
large  hotel  aud  boarding  house  which  stands  on 
the  shore  of  the  lake,  not  far  from  Yilleneuve, 
between  it  and  the  Castle  of  Chillon.  You  can 
see  this  hotel  in  the  engraving.  It  is  the  large 
building  in  the  middle  distance,  standing  back  a 
little  from  the  lake,  and  to  the  left  of  the  castle. 
This  hotel  is  beautifully  situated  in  a  command- 
ing- position  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  and  is  a 
great  place  of  resort  for  English  families  in  the 
summer  season. 

The  travellers  that  landed  from  the  steamer  at 
Villeneuve  soon  separated,  after  arriving  at  the 
open  square  before  the  inn.  Some  took  their 
seats  in  the  diligences  that  were  standing  there  ; 
some  got  into  the  omnibuses  to  go  to  the  hotel ; 
some  engaged  voituriers  from  among  the  number 
that  were  waiting  there  to  be  so  employed,  and, 
entering  the  carriages,  they  drove  away  ;  while  a 
party  of  students,  with  knapsacks  on  their  backs 
and  pikestaves  in  their  hands,  set  off  on  foot  up 


150  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

What  Rollo  saw  in  the  inn.  The  Germau  boy. 

tlie  valley.  Mr.  Holiday  and  his  party,  not  in' 
tending  to  proceed  any  farther  that  night,  went 
directly  to  the  inn. 

They  went  first  into  the  dining  room.  The 
dining  room  in  the  Swiss  inns  is  usually  the  only 
public  room,  and  travellers  on  entering  the  inn 
generally  go  directly  there. 

The  dining  room  was  very  plain  and  simple  in 
all  its  arrangements.  There  was  no  carpet  on 
the  floor,  and  the  woodwork  was  unpaintcd. 
There  were  two  windows  in  front,  which  looked 
out  upon  the  lake.  Directly  beneath  the  win- 
dows was  the  road,  and  the  open  space,  already 
described,  between  the  hotel  and  the  pier. 

There  was  a  boy  with  a  knapsack  on  his  back 
standing  by  the  window,  looking  out.  Hollo 
went  to  the  window,  and  began  to  look  out  too. 

"  Do  you  speak  English  ? "  said  Rollo  to  the 
boy. 

"Nein"  said  the  boy,  shaking  his  head. 

JVein  is  the  German  word  for  no.  This  Rollo 
knew  very  well,  and  so  he  inferred  that  the  boy 
was  a  German.  He,  however,  thought  it  possi- 
ble that  he  might  speak  French,  and  so  he  asked 
again,  — 

"  Do  you  speak  "French  ?  " 

"  Very  little,"  said  the  boy,  answering  now  in 
the  French  language.    "  I  am  studying  it  at  school. 


V  I  L  L  E  N  E  U  V  E  .  151 

The  excursion  of  the  class  of  students. 

I  am  at  school  at  Berne,  and  rny  class  is  making 
an  excursion  to  Geneva." 

"  Do  you  travel  on  foot  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy  ;  "  unless  there  is  a  steam- 
boat, and  then  we  go  in  the  steamboat." 

"  And  I  suppose  you  are  going  to  take  the  steam- 
boat here  to-morrow  morning  to  go  to  Geneva." 

"  No,"  said  the  boy ;  "  we  are  going  to  see 
Chillon  to-night,  and  then  we  are  going  along 
the  shore  of  the  lake  beyond,  to  Montr eux,  and 
take  the  boat  there  to-morrow  morning." 

It  was  quite  amusing  to  Rollo  to  talk  thus  with 
a  strange  boy  in  a  language  which  both  had 
learned  at  school,  and  which  neither  of  them 
could  speak  well,  but  which  was,  nevertheless,  the 
only  language  they  had  in  common. 

"  How  many  boys  are  there  in  your  class  ? " 
asked  Rollo. 

"  Sixteen,"  said  the  boy  ;  "  sixteen  —  six."  The 
boy  then  held  up  the  five  fingers  of  one  hand,  and 
one  of  the  other,  to  show  to  Rollo  that  six  was 
lie  number  he  meant.  The  words  six  and  six- 
teen are  very  similar  in  the  French  language,  and 
for  a  moment  the  boy  confounded  them. 

11  And  the  teacher  too,  I  suppose,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "  and  the  teacher." 

Here  there  was  a  short  pause. 

"  Are  you  going  to  Chillon  ?  "  said  the  boy  to 
Rollo. 


152  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

Rollo  asks  permission  to  go  to  Chillon  with  the  scholars. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo.  "I  am  going  with  my 
father  and  mother." 

"  I  wish  you  were  going  with  us,"  said  the  boy. 

"  I  wish  so  too,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  mean  to  ask 
my  father  to  let  me." 

During  this  time  Mr.  Holiday  had  been  making 
an  arrangement  with  the  maid  of  the  inn  for  two 
bedrooms,  one  for  himself  and  his  wife,  and  the 
other  for  Rollo  ;  and  the  maid  was  now  just 
going  to  show  the  party  the  way  to  their  rooms. 
So  Rollo  went  with  his  father,  and  after  seeing 
that  all  their  effects  were  put  in  the  rooms,  he 
informed  his  father  that  he  had  made  acquaint- 
ance with  a  young  German  schoolboy  who  was 
going  with  his  class  and  the  teacher  to  visit  Chil- 
lon ;  and  he  asked  his  father's  consent  that  he 
might  go  with  them. 

"  I  can  walk  there  with  them,"  said  Rollo,  "and 
wait  there  till  you  and  mother  come." 

"Does  the  boy  speak  English?"  asked  Mi. 
Holiday. 

"No,  sir,"  said  Rollo ;  "but  he  can  speak  Frencn 
a  little.  He  speaks  it  just  about  as  well  as  I  can., 
and  we  can  get  along  together  very  well." 

"  Is  the  teacher  willing  that  you  should  go  ?  " 
asked  Mr.  Holiday. 

"I  don't  know,7  said  Rollo:  "we  have  not 
asked  him  yet." 


LLENEUVE.  153 


Asking  the  teacher.  Permission. 

"  Then  the  first  thing  is  to  ask  him,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday.  "  Let  your  friend  ask  the  teacher  if  he 
is  willing  to  have  another  boy  invited  to  go  with 
his  party  ;  and  if  he  is  willing,  you  may  go.  If 
you  get  to  Chillon  first,  you  may  go  about  the 
castle  with  the  boys,  and  then  wait  at  the  castle 
gates  till  we  come." 

"  How  soon  shall  you  come  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"Very  soon,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "I  have 
ordered  the  carriage  already,  and  we  shall  per- 
haps get  there  as  soon  as  you  do." 

So  Rollo  went  down  stairs  again  to  his  friend, 
the  German  boy. 

"  Do  you  think,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  the  teacher 
would  be  willing  to  have  me  go  with  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "  I  am  sure  he  will.  He 
is  always  very  glad  to  have  us  meet  with  an  op- 
portunity to  speak  French.  Besides,  there  are 
some  boys  in  the  school  who  are  learning  Eng- 
lish, and  he  would  like  to  have  you  talk  a  little 
with  them." 

"  Go  and  ask  him,"  said  Rollo. 

So  the  boy  went  off  to  ask  the  teacher.  He 
met  him  on  the  stairs,  coming  down  with  the  rest 
of  the  boys.  The  teacher  was  very  much  pleased 
with  the  plan  of  having  an  American  boy  invited 
to  join  the  party,  and  so  it  was  settled  that  Rollo 


154 


Rollo    in    Geneva. 


Rendezvousing 


Politeness  among  the  boys. 


The  boys  all  went  down  stairs,  and  rendez- 
voused at  the  door  of  the  inn.  Most  of  the  om 
nibuses  and  diligences  had  gone.  The  boys  of 
the  school  all  accosted  Rollo  in  a  very  cordial 
manner ;  and  the  teacher  shook  hands  with  him, 
and  said  that  he  was  very  glad  to  have  him  joir 
their  party.  The  teacher  spoke  to  him  in  French. 
There  were  two  other  boys  who  tried  to  speak  to 
him  in  English.  They  succeeded  pretty  well,  but 
they  could  not  speak  very  fluently,  and  they  made 
several  mistakes.  But  Rollo  was  very  careful 
not  to  laugh  at  their  mistakes,  and  they  did  not 
laugh  at  those  which  he  made  in  talking  French  ; 
and  so  they  all  got  along  very  well  together. 

Thus  they  set  out  on  the  road  which  led  along 
the  shore  of  the  lake  towards  the  Castle  of 
Chillon. 


The    Castle    op    Chillon.    155 


Rollo  and  the  schoolboys  on  the  pedestrian  excursion. 


Chapter    XII. 
The    Castle    of    Chillon. 

The  party  of  boys  walked  along  the  road  very 
pleasantly  together,  each  one  with  his  knapsack 
on  his  back  and  his  pikestaff  in  his  hand.  Rollo 
talked  with  them  by  the  way  —  with  some  in 
English,  and  with  others  in  French ;  but  inas- 
much as  it  happened  that  whichever  language 
was  used,  one  or  the  other  of  the  parties  to  the 
conversation  was  very  imperfectly  acquainted 
with  it,  the  conversation  was  necessarily  carried 
on  by  means  of  very  short  and  simple  sentences, 
and  the  meaning  was  often  helped  out  by  signs, 
and  gestures,  and  curious  pantomime  of  all  sorts, 
with  an  accompaniment,  of  course,  of  continual 
peals  of  laughter. 

Rollo,  however,  learned  a  good  deal  about  the 
boys,  and  about  the  arrangements  they  made  for 
travelling,  and  also  learned  a  great  many  partic- 
ulars in  respect  to  the  adventures  they  had  met 
with  in  coming  over  the  mountains. 

Rollo  learned,  for  example,  that  every  boy  had 


156  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

The  equipments  of  the  boys.  Hotel  Byron. 

a  fishing  line  in  his  knapsack,  and  that  when  they 
got  tired  of  walking,  and  wished  to  stop  to  rest, 
if  there  was  a  good  place,  they  stopped  and  fished 
a  little  while  in  a  mountain  stream  or  a  lake. 

Another  thing  they  did  was  to  watch  for  but- 
terflies, in  order  to  catch  any  new  species  that 
they  might  find,  to  add  to  the  teacher's  cabinet 
of  natural  history.  For  this  purpose  one  of  the 
boys  had  a  gauze  net  on  the  end  of  a  long  but 
light  handle  ;  and  when  a  butterfly  came  in  sight 
that  seemed  at  all  curious  or  new,  one  of  the 
boys  set  off  with  the  rest  to  catch  him.  If  the 
specimen  was  found  valuable,  it  was  preserved. 
The  specimens  thus  kept  were  secured  with  a  pin 
in  the  bottom  of  a  broad,  but  flat  and  very  light 
box,  which  one  of  the  older  boys  carried  with  his 
knapsack.  The  boy  opened  this  box,  and  showed 
Rollo  the  butterflies  which  they  had  taken.  They 
had  quite  a  pretty  collection.  There  were  sev- 
eral that  Rollo  did  not  recollect  ever  to  have 
seen  before. 

Talking  in  this  way,  they  went  on  till  they 
came  to  the  part  of  the  road  which  was  opposite 
to  the  Hotel  Byron.  The  hotel  was  on  an  emi- 
nence above  the  road,  and  back  from  the  lake. 
Broad  gravelled  avenues  led  up  to  it.  There 
were  also  winding  walks,  and  seats  under  the 
trees,  and  terraces,  and  gardens,  and  parties  of 


The    Castle    of    Chillon.    157 

The  road  to  the  Castle  of  Chillon.  The  sentinel  at  the  door. 

ladies  and  gentlemen  walking  about,  and  children 
playing  here  and  there,  under  the  charge  of  their 
nurses. 

The  boys  gave  only  a  passing  glance  at  these 
things  as  they  went  by.  They  were  much  more 
interested  in  gazing  up  from  time  to  time  at  the 
stupendous  cliffs  and  precipices  which  they  saw 
crowning  the  mountain  ranges  which  seemed  to 
border  the  road  ;  and  on  the  other  side,  in  look- 
ing out  far  over  the  water  of  the  lake  at  the  sail 
boats,  or  the  steamer,  or  the  little  row  boats 
which  they  beheld  in  the  offing. 

The  road  went  winding  on,  following  the  little 
indentations  of  the  shore,  till  at  length  it  reached 
the  castle.  It  passed  close  under  the  castle  walls, 
or,  rather,  close  along  the  margin  of  the  ditch 
which  separated  the  foundations  of  the  castle 
from  the  main  land.  There  was  a  bridge  across 
this  ditch.  This  bridge  was  enclosed,  and  a  little 
room  was  built  upon  it,  with  windows  and  a  door. 
The  outer  door  was,  of  course,  towards  the  road, 
and  it  was  open  when  the  boys  arrived  at  the 
place. 

The  teacher  led  the  way  in  by  this  door,  and 
the  boys  followed  him.  There  was  a  man  there, 
dressed  in  the  uniform  of  a  soldier.  He  was  a 
sort  of  sentinel,  to  keep  the  door  of  the  castle.  He 
had  a  table  on  one  side,  with  various  engraying? 


158  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

Mementoes  for  sale  to  tourists.         Subterranean  passages  of  the  castle. 

spread  out  upon  it,  representing  different  views 
of  the  castle,  both  of  the  interior  and  of  the 
exterior.  There  were  also  little  books  of  de- 
scription, giving  an  account  of  the  castle  and  of 
its  history,  and  copies  of  Byron's  poem,  the  Pris- 
oner of  Chillon.  All  these  things  were  for  sale 
to  the  visitors  who  should  come  to  see  the  castle. 

The  engravings  were  kept  from  being  blown 
away  by  the  wind  by  means  of  little  stone  paper 
weights  made  of  rounded  pebble  stones,  about  as 
large  as  the  palm  of  the  hand,  with  views  of  the 
castle  and  of  the  surrounding  scenery  painted  on 
them.     The  paper  weights  were  for  sale  too. 

The  boys  looked  at  these  things  a  moment,  but 
did  not  seem  to  pay  much  attention  to  them. 
They  walked  on,  following  their  teacher,  to  the 
end  of  the  bridge  room,  where  they  came  to  the 
great  castle  gates.  These  were  open,  too,  and 
they  went  in.  They  found  themselves  in  a  paved 
courtyard,  with  towers,  and  battlements,  and 
lofty  walls  all  around  them.  There  was  a  man 
there,  waiting  to  receive  them  in  charge,  and 
show  them  into  the  dungeons. 

He  led  the  way  through  a  door,  and  thence 
down  a  flight  of  stone  steps  to  a  series  of  subter- 
ranean chambers,  which  were  very  dimly  lighted 
by  little  windows  opening  towards  the  lake.  The 
back  sides  of  the  rooms  consisted  of  the  living 


The    Castle    of    Chillon.    159 

The  dungeon.  The  prisoners'  bed.  The  place  of  execution. 

rock  ;  the  front  sides  were  formed  of  the  castle 
wall  that  bordered  the  lake. 

"  Here  is  the  room,"  said  the  guide,  "  where 
the  prisoners  who  were  condemned  to  death  in 
the  castle  in  former  times  spent  the  last  night 
before  their  execution.  That  stone  was  the  bed 
where  they  had  to  lie." 

So  saying,  the  guide  pointed  to.  a  broad,  smooth, 
and  sloping  surface  of  rock,  which  was  formed  by 
the  ledge  on  the  back  side  of  the  dungeon.  The 
stone  was  part  of  the  solid  ledge,  and  was  sur- 
rounded with  ragged  crags,  just  as  they  had  been 
left  by  the  excavators  in  making  the  dungeon  ; 
but  whether  the  smooth  and  sloping  surface  of 
this  particular  portion  of  the  rock  was  natural  or 
artificial,  that  is,  whether  it  had  been  expressly 
made  so  to  form  a  bed  for  the  poor  condemned 
criminal,  or  whether  the  rock  had  accidentally 
broken  into  that  form  by  means  of  some  natural 
fissure,  and  so  had  been  appropriated  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  castle  to  that  use,  the  boys  could  not 
determine. 

The  guide  led  the  boys  a  little  farther  on,  to  a 
place  where  there  was  a  dark  recess,  and  point- 
ing up  towards  the  ceiling,  he  said,  — 

"  There  is  where  the  criminals  were  hung.  Up 
where  I  point  there  is  a  beam  built  into  the  rock ; 
and  from  that  the  rope  was  suspended." 


160  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Why  the  boys  could  not  see  the  gibbet.     Construction  of  the  dungeons. 

The  boys  all  crowded  round  the  spot,  and 
looked  eagerly  up,  but  they  could  not  see  any 
beam. 

"  You  cannot  see  it,"  said  the  guide,  "  now,  be- 
r.ause  you  have  just  come  out  from  the  light  of 
day.  We  shall  come  back  this  way  pretty  soon, 
and  then  you  will  be  able  to  see  it ;  for  your  eyea 
will  then  get  accustomed  a  little  to  the  darkness 
of  the  dungeon.'' 

So  the  guide  went  on,  and  the  boys  followed 
him. 

They  next  came  into  a  very  large  apartment. 
The  front  side  and  the  back  side  of  it  were  both 
curved.  The  back  side  consisted  of  the  living 
rock.  The  front  side  was  formed  of  the  outer 
castle  wall,  which  was  built  on  the  rock  at  the 
very  margin  of  the  water.  In  the  centre  was  a 
range  of  seven  massive  stone  columns,  placed 
there  to  support  the  arches  on  which  rested  the 
floor  of  the  principal  story  of  the  castle  above. 
The  roof  of  this  dungeon  of  course  was  vaulted, 
the  arches  and  groins  being  carried  over  from 
this  range  of  central  pillars  towards  the  wall  in 
front,  and  towards  the  solid  rock  behind.  All 
this  you  will  plainly  see  represented  in  the 
engraving. 

This  great  dungeon  was  lighted  by  means  of 
very  small  loopholes  cut  in  the  wall,  high  up  from 


THE  DUNGEON  IN  THE  CASTLE  OF   CHILLON. 
11 


The    Castle    of    Chillon.    163 

Curious  effect  of  reflected  light  in  the  dungeon. 

the  floor.  The  light  from  these  windows,  instead 
of  coming  down,  and  shining  upon  the  floor, 
seemed  to  go  up,  and  to  lose  itself  in  a  faint 
attempt  to  illuminate  the  vaulted  roof  above. 
The  reason  was,  that  at  the  particular  hour  when 
the  boys  made  their  visit,  the  beams  of  the  sun 
which  shone  directly  from  it  in  the  sky  were  ex- 
cluded, and  only  those  that  were  reflected  upward 
from  the  waters  of  the  lake  could  come  in. 

The  guide  led  the  boys  to  one  of  the  central 
pillars,  and  pointed  to  an  iron  ring  which  was 
built  into  the  stone.  He  told  them  that  there 
was  the  place  where  one  prisoner  was  confined  in 
the  dungeon  for  six  years.  He  was  chained  to 
that  ring  by  a  short  chain,  which  enabled  him 
only  to  walk  to  and  fro  a  few  steps  each  way 
about  the  pillar.  These  steps  had  worn  a  place 
in  the  rock. 

After  the  boys  had  looked  at  this  pillar,  and 
at  the  iron  ring,  and  at  the  place  worn  in  the 
floor  by  the  footsteps  of  the  prisoner,  as  long  as 
they  wished,  they  followed  the  guide  on  to  the 
end  of  the  dungeon,  where  they  were  stopped  by 
the  solid  rock.  Here  the  guide  brought  them  to 
a  dark  and  gloomy  place  in  a  corner,  where,  by 
standing  a  little  back,  they  could  see  all  the  pil- 
lars in  a  row  ;  and  he  said  that  if  they  would 
count  them  they  would  find  that  there  were  ex- 


164  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

The  seven  pillars.  The  sunbeam  in  the  dungeons. 

actly  seven.  The  boys  did  so,  and  they  found 
that  there  were  seven ;  but  they  did  not  under- 
stand  why  the  number  was  of  any  importance. 
But  the  teacher  explained  it  to  them.  He  said 
that  Byron  had  mentioned  seven  as  the  number 
of  the  pillars  in  his  poem,  and  that  most  people 
who  had  read  the  poem  were  pleased  to  observe 
the  correspondence  between  his  description  and 
the  reality. 

The  teacher  quoted  the  lines.  They  were 
these  :  — 

"  In  Chillon's  dungeons,  deep  and  old, 
There  are  seven  columns,  massy  and  gray, 
Dim  with  a  dull,  imprisoned  ray  — 
A  sunbeam  that  hath  lost  its  way, 
And  through  the  crevice  and  the  cleft 
Of  the  thick  wall  is  fallen  and  left 
Creeping  o'er  the  floor  so  damp, 
Like  a  marsh's  meteor  lamp." 

In  repeating  these  lines,  the  teacher  spoke  in  a 
strong  foreign  accent.  All  the  boys  listened 
attentively  while  he  spoke,  though  of  course  only 
Rollo  and  those  of  the  boys  who  had  studied 
English  could  understand  him. 

After  this  the  boys  came  back  through  the 
whole  range  of  dungeons,  by  the  same  way  that 
they  had  come  in.  They  could  now  see  the  beam 
from  which  the  condemned  criminals  were  nung. 
It  passed  across  from  rock  to  rock,  high  above 


The    Castle    of    Chillon.    165 

Another  guide.        Duke  of  Savoy.        History  of  the  Castle  of  Chillon. 

their  heads,  in  a  dark  and  gloomy  place,  and 
seemed  perfectly  black  with  age. 

When  the  party  came  out  of  the  dungeons,  a 
young  woman  took  them  in  charge,  to  show  them 
the  apartments  above.  She  conducted  them  up  a 
broad  flight  of  stone  stairs  to  a  massive  doorway, 
which  led  to  the  principal  story  of  the  castle. 
Here  the  boys  passed  through  one  after  another 
of  several  large  halls,  which  were  formerly  used 
for  various  purposes  when  the  castle  was  inhab- 
ited, but  are  employed  now  for  the  storage  of 
brass  cannons,  and  of  ammunition  belonging  to 
the  Swiss  government.  When  the  castle  was 
built,  the  country  in  which  it  stands  belonged  to 
a  neighboring  state,  called  Savoy  ;  and  it  was  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  who  was  a  sort  of  king,  that 
built  it,  and  it  was  he  that  confined  the  prisoners 
in  it  so  cruelly.  Many  of  them  were  confined 
there  on  account  of  being  accused  of  conspiring 
against  his  government.  At  length,  however,  the 
war  broke  out  between  Switzerland  and  Savoy, 
and  the  Swiss  were  victorious.  They  besieged 
this  castle  by  an  army  on  the  land  and  by  a  fleet 
of  galleys  on  the  lake,  and  in  due  time  they  took 
it.  They  let  all  the  prisoners  which  they  found 
confined  there  go  free,  and  since  then  they  have 
used  the  castle  as  a  place  of  storage  for  arms  and 
ammunition. 


166  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

e . . 

The  senate  house.  Ammunition.  The  torturing  room. 

One  of  the  halls  which  the  boys  went  into,  the 
guide  said,  used  to  be  a  senate  house,  and  another 
was  the  court  room  where  the  prisoners  were 
tried.  There  was  a  staircase  which  led  from  the 
court  room  down  to  the  dungeon  below,  where 
the  great  black  beam  was,  from  which  they  were 
to  be  hung. 

The  boys,  however,  did  not  pay  a  great  deal 
of  attention  to  what  the  guide  said  about  the  for- 
mer uses  of  these  rooms.  They  seemed  to  be 
much  more  interested  in  the  purposes  that  they 
were  now  serving,  and  so  went  about  examining 
very  eagerly  the  great  brass  cannons  and  the 
ammunition  wagons  that  stood  in  them. 

At  length,  however,  they  came  to  something 
which  specially  attracted  their  attention.  It  was 
a  small  room,  which  the  guide  said  was  an  ancient 
torturing  room.  There  was  a  large  wooden  post 
in  the  centre  of  the  room,  extending  from  the 
floor  to  the  vault  above.  The  post  wag  worn  and 
blackened  by  time  and  decay,  and  there  were 
various  hooks,  and  staples,  and  pulleys  attached 
to  it  at  different  heights,  which  the  guide  said 
were  used  for  securing  the  prisoners  to  the  post, 
when  they  were  to  be  tortured.  The  post  itself 
was  burned  in  many  places,  as  if  by  hot  irons. 

The  boys  saw  another  place  in  a  room  beyond, 
which  was  in  some  respects  still  more  dreadful 


The    Castle    of    Chillon.    167 

A  dreadful  place.  The  oubliette.  Certain  death. 

than  this.  It  was  a  place  where  there  was  an 
opening  in  the  floor,  near  the  wall  of  the  room, 
tl?at  looked  like  a  trap  door.  There  was  the 
beginning  of  a  stone  stair  leading  down.  A 
small  railing  was  built  round  the  opening,  as  if 
to  keep  people  from  falling  in.  The  boys  all 
crowded  round  the  railing,  and  looked  down. 

They  saw  that  the  stair  only  went  down  three 
steps,  and  then  it  came  to  a  sudden  end,  and  all 
below  was  a  dark  and  dismal  pit,  which  seemed 
bottomless.  On  looking  more  intently,  however, 
they  could  at  length  see  a  glimmer  of  light,  and 
hear  the  rippling  of  the  waves  of  the  lake,  at  a 
great  depth  below.  The  guide  said  that  this  was 
one  of  the  oubliettes,  that  is,  a  place  where  men 
could  be  destroyed  secretly,  and  in  such  a  manner 
that  no  one  should  ever  know  what  became  of 
them.  They  were  conducted  to  this  door,  and 
directed  to  go  down.  It  was  dark,  so  that  they 
could  only  see  the  first  steps  of  the  stair.  They 
would  suppose,  however,  that  the  stair  was  con- 
tinued, and  that  it  would  lead  them  down  to  some 
room,  where  they  were  to  go.  So  they  would 
walk  on  carefully,  feeling  for  the  steps  of  the 
stair  ;  but  after  the  third  there  would  be  no  more, 
and  they  would  fall  down  to  a  great  depth  on 
ragged  rocks,  and  be  killed.  To  make  it  certain 
that  they  would  be  killed  by  the  fall,  there  were 


168  Rollo   in   Geneva. 


A  strange  combination  of  superstition  and  tyranny. 

sharp  blades,  like  the  ends  of  scythes,  fixed  in  the 
rock,  far  below,  to  cut  them  in  pieces  as  they  fell. 
.  It  seems  these  tyrants,  hateful  and  merciless  as 
they  were,  did  not  wish,  or  perhaps  did  not  dare, 
to  destroy  the  souls  as  well  as  the  bodies  of  their 
victims,  and  so  they  contrived  it  that  the  last  act 
which  the  poor  wretch  should  perform  before 
going  down  into  this  dreadful  pit  should  be  an 
act  of  devotion.  To  this  end  there  was  made  a 
little  niche  in  the  wall,  just  over  the  trap  door, 
and  there  was  placed  there  an  image  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  who  is  worshipped  in  Catholic  coun- 
tries as  divine.  The  prisoner  was  invited  to  kiss 
this  image  as  he  passed  by,  just  as  he  began  to 
descend  the  stair.  Thus  the  very  last  moment 
of  his  life  would  be  spent  in  performing  an  act 
of  devotion,  and  thus,  as  they  supposed,  his  soul 
would  be  saved.  What  a  strange  combination  is 
this  of  superstition  and  tyranny  ! 

After  seeing  all  these  things,  the  boys  returned 
towards  the  entrance  of  the  castle.  They  met 
several  parties  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  coming 
in ;  and  just  as  they  got  to  the  door  again,  the 
carriage  containing  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  drove 
up.  So  Eollo  bade  the  teacher  and  all  the  boys 
good  by,  after  accompanying  them  a  few  minutes, 
as  they  walked  along  the  road  towards  the  place 
where  they  were  to  go.     By  this  time  his  father 


The    Castle    of    Chill  on.    109 

The  little  island  in  the  lake.  Byron's  description. 

and  mother  had  descended  from  their  carriage, 
and  were  ready  to  go  in.  So  Rollo  joined  them, 
and  went  through  the  castle  again,  and  saw  all 
the  places  a  second  time. 

When  they  came  out,  and  were  getting  into  the 
carriage.  Mr.  Holiday  said  that  it  was  a  very 
interesting  place. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  and  we  have 
Been  all  that  Byron  speaks  of  in  his  poem,  except 
the  little  island.     Where  is  the  little  island?" 

Mr.  Holiday  pointed  out  over  the  water  of  the 
lake,  where  a  group  of  three  tall  trees  seemed  to 
be  growing  directly  out  of  the  water,  only  that 
there  was  a  little  wall  around  them  below.  They 
looked  like  three  flowers  growing  in  a  flower  pot 
set  in  the  water. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  that  must  certainly 
be  it.  It  corresponds  exactly."  So  she  repeated 
the  following  lines  from  Byron's  poem,  which  de- 
scribes the  island  in  the  language  of  one  of  the 
prisoners,  who  saw  it  from  his  dungeon  window 

"And  then  there  was  a  little  isle, 
Which  in  my  very  face  did  smile  — 

The  only  one  in  view ; 
A  small  green  isle,  it  seemed  no  more, 
Scarce  broader  than  my  dungeon  floor ; 
But  in  it  there  were  three  tall  trees, 
And  o'er  it  blew  the  mountain  breeze, 
And  by  it  there  were  waters  flowing, 
And  on  it  there  were  young  flowers  growing, 

Of  gentle  breath  and  hue." 


170 


Rollo  in   Geneva 


The  return  to  Villeneuve. 


"  That's  pretty  poetry,"  said  Rollo. 

"Very  pretty  indeed,"  said  his  father. 

The  horse  now  began  to  trot  along  the  road. 
The  little  island  continued  in  view  for  a  while, 
and  then  disappeared,  and  afterwards  came  into 
view  again,  as  the  road  went  turning  and  wind- 
ing around,  following  the  indentations  of  the 
shore. 

At  length,  after  a  short  but  very  pleasant  ride, 
the  party  arrived  safely  at  the  inn  again  at  Yil- 
leneuve. 


Plan    Formed.  171 


The  configuration  of  the  Lake  of  Genera. 


Chap  per  XIII. 
Plan    Formed. 

The  reason  why  the  Lake  of  Geneva  is  of  a 
crescent  form  is,  that  that  is  the  shape  of  the 
space  in  the  bottom  of  the  valley  which  it  fills. 
There  are  two  ranges  of  mountains  running  in  a 
curved  direction  almost  parallel  to  each  other, 
and  the  space  between  them,  for  a  certain  dis- 
tance, is  filled  with  water,  owing  to  the  spreading 
out  of  the  waters  of  the  Rhone  in  flowing  through. 
Thus  the  lake  is  produced  by  the  valley,  and  takes 
its  form  from  it. 

The  valley  does  not  come  to  an  end  when  you 
reach  the  head  of  the  lake,  but.  continues  for 
more  than  a  hundred  miles  beyond,  the  two  moun- 
tain ranges  continuing  to  border  it  all  that  dis- 
tance, and  the  River  Rhone  to  flow  through  the 
centre  of  it.  Thus  at  Yilleneuve  you  look  in 
one  direction,  and  you  have  a  winding  valley 
filled  with  water,  extending  for  fifty  miles,  to 
Geneva  ;  while  in  the  other  direction,  the  same 
valley  —  though  now  the  floor  of  it  is  a  green 


172  Rollo   in   Geneva. 


Curious  features  of  the  valley.  "Why  the  land  is  level. 

and  fertile  plain  —  continues,  with  the  same  stu- 
pendous walls  of  mountain  bordering  the  sides 
of  it,  for  a  hundred  miles  or  more,  to  the  sources 
of  the  Rhone. 

There  is  another  thing  that  is  very  curious  in 
respect  to  this  valley,  and  that  is,  that  the  floor 
of  it  is  as  flat,  and  smooth,  and  level,  almost, 
where  it  is  formed  of  land,  as  where  it  is  formed 
of  water. 

Geologists  suppose  that  the  reason  why  the 
bottom  of  the  valley,  when  it  consists  of  land,  is 
so  perfectly  level,  is  because  the  land  has  been 
formed  by  deposits  from  the  river,  in  the  course 
of  a  long  succession  of  ages.  Of  course  the 
river  could  never  build  the  land  any  higher,  in 
any  part,  than  it  rises  itself  in  the  highest  inun- 
dations. Indeed,  land  formed  by  river  deposits 
is  almost  always  nearly  level,  and  the  surface  of 
it  is  but  little  raised  above  the  ordinary  level  of 
the  stream,  and  never  above  that  of  the  highest 
inundations. 

It  must,  however,  by  no  means  be  supposed 
that  because  the  surface  of  the  valley  above  the 
head  of  the  lake  is  flat  and  level,  that  it  is  on 
that  account  monotonous  and  uninteresting.  In- 
deed, it  is  quite  the  reverse.  It  forms  one  of  the 
richest  and  most  enchanting  landscapes  that  can 
be  conceived.    It  is  abundantly  shaded  with  trees, 


Plan   Formed.  173 

Pleasant  walks.  Swiss  peasants. 

some  planted  in  avenues  along  the  roadside,  some 
bearing  fruit  in  orchards  and  gardens,  and  some 
standing  in  picturesque  groups  about  the  houses, 
or  in  pretty  groves  by  the  margin  of  the  fields. 
The  land  is  laid  out  in  a  very  charming  manner, 
in  gardens,  orchards,  meadows,  and  fields  of  corn 
and  grain,  with  no  fences  to  separate  them  either 
from  each  other  or  from  the  road  ;  so  that  in 
walking  along  the  public  highway  you  seem  to 
walk  in  one  of  the  broad  alleys  of  an  immense 
and  most  beautiful  garden. 

Besides  all  these  beauties  of  the  scene  itself, 
the  pleasure  of  walking  through  it  is  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  number  and  variety  of  groups  and 
figures  of  peasant  girls  and  boys,  and  women  and- 
men,  that  you  meet  coming  along  the  road,  or  see 
working  in  the  fields,  all  dressed  in  the  pretty 
Swiss  costume,  and  each  performing  some  curious 
operation,  which  is  either  in  itself,  or  in  the  man- 
ner of  performing  it,  entirely  different  from  what 
is  seen  in  any  other  land. 

Rollo  followed  the  main  road  leading  up  the 
valley  a  little  way  one  evening,  while  his  father 
and  mother  were  at  Villeneuve,  in  order,  as  he 
said,  to  see  where  the  diligences  went  to.  fie 
was  so  much  pleased  with  what  he  saw  that  he 
went  back  to  the  hotel,  and  began  studying  the 
guide  book,  in  order  to  find  how  far  it  was  to  the 


174  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Hollo  proposes  a  pedestrian  excursion  from  Yilleneuve  to  Aigle. 

next  town,  and  what  objects  of  interest  there 
were  to  be  seen  on  the  way.  He  was  so  well  sat- 
isfied with  the  result  of  his  investigations  that  he 
resolved  to  propose  to  his  father  and  mother  to 
make  a  pedestrian  excursion  up  the  valley. 

"  Now,  mother,"  said  he,  "  I  have  a  plan  to 
propose,  and  that  is,  that  we  all  set  out  to-mor- 
row morning,  and  make  a  pedestrian  excursion 
up  the  valley,  to  the  next  town,  or  the  next  town 
but  one." 

"  How  far  is  it?  "  asked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Why,  the  best  place  to  go  to,"  said  Rollo,  "  is 
Aigle,  which  is  the  second  town,  and  that  is  only 
six  miles  from  here." 

'  "  0  Rollo  !  "  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  I  could  not 
possibly  walk  six  miles." 

"  0,  yes,  mother,"  said  Rollo.  "  The  road  is  as 
smooth,  and  level,  and  hard  as  a  floor.  Besides, 
you  said  that  you  meant  to  make  a  ped  strian 
excursion  somewhere  while  you  were  in  Switzer- 
land, and  there  could  not  be  a  better  place  than 
this." 

"  I  know  I  said  so,"  replied  Mrs.  Holiday, "  but 
I  was  not  really  in  earnest.  Besides,  I  don't 
think  I  could  possibly  walk  six  miles.  But  we 
will  take  a  carriage  and  ride  there,  if  your  father 
is  willing." 

"But,  mother,  it  is  not  so  pleasant  to  ride 


Plan    Formed.  175 


The  comparative  advantages  oi  rHing  and  walking,  in  viewing  the  country. 

You  can't  see  so  well,  for  the  top  of  the  carriage, 
or  else  the  driver  on  his  high  seat  before,  will  be 
more  or  less  in  the  way.  Then  when  you  are 
walking  you  can  stop  so  easily  any  miaute,  and 
look  around.  But  if  you  are  in  a  carriage,  it 
makes  a  fuss  and  trouble  to  be  calling  continually 
upon  the  coachman  to  stop ;  and  then,  besides, 
naif  of  the  time,  before  he  gets  the  carriage 
stopped  you  have  got  by  the  place  you  wanted 
to  see." 

What  Rollo  said  is  very  true.  We  can  see  a 
country  containing  a  series  of  fine  landscapes 
much  more  thoroughly  by  walking  through  it,  or 
riding  on  horseback,  than  by  going  in  a  carriage. 
I  do  not  think,  however,  that,  after  all,  this  advan- 
tage constituted  the  real  inducement  in  Rollo's 
mind  which  made  him  so  desirous  of  walking  to 
Aigle.  The  truth  was,  that  the  little  walk  which 
he  had  taken  to  Chillon  with  the  party  of  pedes- 
trian boys  had  quite  filled  his  imagination  with 
the  pleasures  and  the  independent  dignity  of  this 
mode  of  travelling,  and  he  was  very  ambitious 
of  making  an  experiment  of  it  himself. 

"  And,  mother/7  continued  Eollo,  "  after  all,  it 
is  only  about  two  hours  and  a  half  or  three  hours, 
at  two  or  three  miles  an  hour.  Now,  you  are 
often  gone  as  much  as  that,  making  calls ;  and 
when  you  are  makirg   calls  you  generally  go, 


176  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

Kollo's  argument  in  favor  of  the  pedestrian  trip. 

I  am  sure,  as  much  as  two  or  three  miles  an 
hour." 

"  But  I  generally  ride,  making  calls,"  said  Mrs. 
Holiday. 

"  Yes,  mother,  but  sometimes  you  walk  ;  and  I 
think  when  you  walk  you  are  often  gone  more 
than  three  hours." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  I  admit ; 
but  then,  you  know,  when  I  am  making  calls  1 
am  resting  a  great  deal  of  the  time  at  the  houses 
where  I  call." 

"  I  know  that,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and  so  we  will 
rest,  sitting  down  by  the  road  side." 

Mrs.  Holiday  admitted  that  Rollo  had  rather 
the  best  of  the  argument ;  but  she  was  still  quite 
unwilling  to  believe  that  she  could  really  walk 
six  miles. 

"And  back  again,  too,"  she  added.  "You 
must  consider  that  we  shall  have  to  come  back 
again." 

"  Ah,  but  I  don't  wish  to  have  you  walk  back 
again,"  said  Rollo.  "  We  will  come  back  by  the 
diligence.  There  are  several  diligences  and  om- 
nibuses that  come  by  Aigle,  on  the  way  here,  hi 
the  course  of  the  day." 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  still  undecided.  She  was 
very  desirous  of  gratifying  Rollo,  but  yet  she 
had  not  courage  to  undertake  quite  so  great  a 


Plan    Formed.  171 

The  experiment.  Rollers  haversack.  Its  contents. 

feat  as  to  walk  six  miles.  At  length  Mr.  Holiday 
proposed  t:  at  they  should  at  least  set  out  and  go 
a  little  way. 

"  We  can  try  it  for  half  an  hour,"  said  he, "  and 
then  go  on  or  turn  back,  just  as  we  feel  inclined. 
Or  if  we  go  on  several  miles,  and  then  get  tired, 
we  shall  soon  come  to  a  village,  where  we  shall 
be  able  to  get  some  sort  of  vehicle  or  other  to 
bring  us  back ;  and  at  all  events  we  shall  have 
an  adventure." 

Mrs.  Holiday  consented  to  this  plan,  and  it 
was  settled  that  the  party  should  breakfast  at 
eight  o'clock  the  next  morning,  and  set  out  imme- 
diately afterwards. 

Rollo  had  a  sort  of  haversack  which  he  used 
to  carry  sometimes  on  his  walks,  and  he  always 
kept  it  with  him  in  the  steamboat  or  carriage, 
when  he  travelled  in  those  conveyances.  This 
haversack  he  got  ready,  supplying  it  with  all 
that  he  thought  would  be  required  for  the  excur- 
sion. He  put  in  it  his  drinking  cup,  —  the 
one  which  he  had  bought  in  Scotland,  —  a  little 
spy  glass,  which  he  used  for  viewing  the  sce- 
nery, a  book  that  his  mother  was  reading,  a 
little  portfolio  containing  some  drawing  paper 
and  a  pencil,  a  guide  book  and  map,  and,  lastly, 
a  paper  of  small  cakes  and  sugar  plums,  to  give 
12 


178 


Rollo  in   Geneva. 


Hollo's  preparations  for  the  pedestrian  trip. 


to  any  children  that  he  might  chance  to  meet 
on  the  way. 

Rollo  made  all  these  preparations  the  evening 
before,  so  that  every  thing  might  be  ready  in  the 
morning,  when  the  hour  for  setting  out  should 
arrive. 


Walk    to    Aigle,  179 


The  responsibility  of  the  excursion  put  upon  Rollo. 


Chapter    XIV. 
Wa  lk    to    Aigle. 

"  Now,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  as  the  party 
sallied  forth  from  the  inn  to  commence  their  walk 
up  the  valley,  "  we  depend  entirely  on  you.  This 
is  your  excursion,  and  we  expect  you  will  take 
caro.  and  see  that  every  thing  goes  right." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo.  "  Come  with  me.  I'll 
show  you  the  way." 

On  the  borders  of  the  village  they  passed  to  a 
high  stone  bridge  which  crossed  a  small  stream. 
This  stream  came  in  a  slow  and  meandering 
course  through  the  meadows,  and  here  emptied 
into  the  lake.  Farther  back  it  was  a  torrent 
leaping  from  rock  to  rock  and  crag  to  crag,  for 
many  thousand  feet  down  the  mountain  side ;  but 
here  it  flowed  so  gently,  and  lay  so  quietly  in  its 
bed,  that  pond  lilies  grew  and  bloomed  in  its 
waters. 

Just  above  the  bridge  there  was  a  square  en- 
closure in  the  margin  of  the  water,  with  a  solid 
stone  wall  all  around  it.     A  man  stood  on  the 


180  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

The  man  fishing  with  the  net.  Pond  liliwc 

wall  with  a  net  in  his  hand.  The  net  was  at- 
tached to  a  pole.  The  man  was  just  dipping  the 
net  into  the  water  when  Rollo,  with  his  father 
and  mother,  came  upon  the  bridge. 

"  Let  us  stop  a  minute,  and  see  what  that  man 
is  going  to  do,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  saw  that  square 
wall  yesterday,  and  I  could  not  imagine  what  it 
was  for." 

The  man  put  his  net  down  to  the  bottom  of  the 
reservoir,  and  after  drawing  it  along  on  the  bot- 
tom, he  took  it  out  again.  There  was  nothing  in 
it.  He  then  repeated  the  operation,  and  this 
time  he  brought  up  two  large  fishes  that  looked 
like  trout.  They  were  both  more  than  a  foot 
long. 

The  man  uttered  a  slight  exclamation  of  satis- 
faction, and  then  lifting  the  net  over  the  wall,  he 
let  the  fish  fall  into  a  basket  which  he  had  placed 
outside.  He  then  went  away,  carrying  the  bas- 
ket with  one  hand,  and  the  net  on  his  shoulder 
with  the  other. 

"  That's  a  very  curious  plan,"  said  Rollo.  "  I 
suppose  they  catch  the  fish  in  the  lake,  and  then 
put  them  in  that  pen  and  keep  them  there  till 
they  are  ready  to  eat  them." 

So  they  walked  on. 

Presently  Rollo  saw  some  of  the  pond  lilies 
growing  in  the  stream,  the  course  of  which  was 
hero,  for  a  short  distance,  near  the  road. 


Walk    to    A  i  g  i.e.  181 

Rollo  fishing  for  pond  lilies.  Sights  and  scenes. 

"  I  wish  very  much,  mother,"  said  he,  "  that  1 
could  get  one  of  those  pond  lilies  for  you,  but  1 
cannot.  I  tried  yesterday,  but  they  are  too  far 
from  the  shore,  and  it  is  so  finished,  and  smooth, 
and  nice  about  here  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  pole  or  a  stick  to  be  found  any  where  to 
reach  with." 

Presently,  however,  Rollo  came  to.  a  boy  who 
was  fishing  on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  and  he 
asked  him  if  he  would  be  good  enough  to  hook 
in  one  of  those  lilies  for  him  with  his  pole  and 
line.  The  boy  was  very  willing  to  do  it.  He 
threw  a  loop  of  his  line  over  one  of  the  pond 
lilies,  and  drew  it  in.  Rollo  thanked  the  boy  for 
his  kindness,  and  gave  the  pond  lily  to  his  mother. 

Perhaps  there  are  no  flowers  that  give  a  higher 
pleasure  to  the  possessors  than  those  which  a  boy 
of  Rollo's  age  gathers  for  his  mother. 

The  party  walked  on.  Mrs.  Holiday's  atten- 
tion was  soon  strongly  attracted  to  the  various 
groups  of  peasants  which  she  saw  working  in  the 
fields,  or  walking  along  the  road.  First  came  a 
young  girl,  with  a  broad-brimmed  straw  hat  on 
her  head,  driving  a  donkey  cart  loaded  with 
sheaves  of  grain.  Next  an  old  and  decrepit- 
looking  woman,  with  a  great  bundle  of  sticks  on 
her  head.  It  seemed  impossible  that  she  could 
carry  so  great  a  load  in  such  a  manner.      As  our 


182  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

In  Switzerland  the  girls  work  in  the  fields. 

party  went  by,  she  turned  her  head  slowly  round 
a  little  way,  to  look  at  them  ;  and  it  was  curious 
to  see  the  great  bundle  of  sticks  —  which  was 
two  feet  in  diameter,  and  four  or  five  feet  long  — 
slowly  turn  round  with  her  head,  and  then  slowly 
turn  back  again  as  she  went  on  her  way. 

Next  Mrs.  Holiday  paused  a  moment  to  look 
at  some  girls  who  were  hoeing  in  the  field.  The 
girls  looked  smilingly  upon  the  strangers,  and 
bade  them  good  morning. 

"  Ask  them,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  to  Rollo,  "  if 
their  work  is  not  very  hard." 

So  Rollo  asked  them  the  question.  Mrs.  Holi- 
day requested  him  to  do  it  because  she  did  not 
speak  French  very  well,  and  so  she  did  not  like 
to  try. 

The  girls  said  that  the  work  was  not  hard  at 
all.  They  laughed,  and  went  on  working  faster 
than  ever. 

Next  they  came  to  a  poor  wayfaring  woman, 
who  was  sitting  by  the  roadside  with  an  infant  in 
her  arms.  Rollo  immediately  took  out  one  of  the 
little  cakes  from  the  parcel  in  his  knapsack,  and 
handed  it  to  the  child.  The  mother  seemed  very 
much  pleased.     She  bowed  to  Rollo,  and  said,  — 

"  She  thanks  you  infinitely,  sir." 

Thus  they  went  on  for  about  three  quarters  of 
an  hour.     During  all  this  time  Mrs.  Holiday's 


Walk    to    Aigle.  183 

Grand  scenery.  Looking  for  a  resting-place. 

attention  was  so  much  taken  up  with  what  she 
saw,  —  sometimes  with  the  groups  of  peasants 
and  the  pretty  little  views  of  gardens,  cottages, 
and  fields  which  attracted  her  notice  by  the  road 
side,  ever  and  anon  by  the  glimpses  which  she 
obtained  of  the  stupendous  mountain  ranges  that 
bordered  the  valley  on  either  hand,  and  that  were 
continually  presenting  their  towering  crags  and 
dizzy  precipices  to  view  through  the  opening  of 
the  trees  on  the  plain,  —  that  she  had  not  time  to 
think  of  being  fatigued.  At  length  Kollo  asked 
her  how  she  liked  the  walk. 

"  Very  well,"  said  she  ;  "  only  I  think  now  I 
have  walked  full  as  far  as  I  should  ever  have  to  go 
at  home,  when  making  calls,  before  coming  to  the 
first  house.  So  as  soon  as  you  can  you  may  find 
me  a  place  to  sit  down  and  rest  a  little  while." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  see  a  grove  of  trees  by 
the  roadside,  on  ahead  a  little  way.  When  we 
get  thei  3  we  will  sit  down  in  the  shade  and  rest." 

So  they  went  on  till  they  came  to  the  grove. 
The  grove  proved  to  be  a  very  pretty  one,  though 
it  consisted  of  only  four  or  five  trees  ;  but  unfor- 
tunately there  was  no  place  to  sit  down  in  it. 
Rollo  looked  about  for  some  time  in  vain,  and 
Beemed  quite  disappointed. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  his  mother ;  "  sometimes, 
when  1  make  a  call,  I  find  that  the  lady  T  have 


184  Eollo    in    Geneva. 

Rollo  and  his  parents,  sitting  by  the  roadside,  watch  the  passers  ly. 

called  to  see  is  not  at  home  ;  and  then,  even  if  I 
am  tired  and  want  to  rest,  I  have  to  go  on  to  the 
next  house.  We  will  suppose  that  at  this  place 
the  lady  is  not  at  home." 

Rollo  laughed  and  walked  on.  It  was  not 
long  before  they  reached  a  place  where  there  was 
a  kind  of  granary,  or  some  other  farm  building 
of  that  sort,  near  the  road,  with  a  little  yard 
where  some  logs  were  lying.  Rollo  found  excel- 
lent seats  for  his  father  and  mother  on  these  logs. 
They  sat  on  one  of  them,  and  leaned  their  backs 
against  another  that  was  a  little  higher  up.  They 
were  in  the  shade  of  the  building,  too,  so  that 
the  place  was  very  cool. 

"  This  is  a  very  nice  place  to  rest,"  said  Mrs. 
Holiday  ;  "  and  while  we  are  sitting,  we  can 
amuse  ourselves  in  looking  at  the  people  that 
go  by." 

The  first  person  that  came  was  a  pretty-look- 
ing peasant  girl  of  about  seventeen,  who  had  a 
tub  upon  her  head.  What  was  in  the  tu  ■  Rollo 
could  not  see.  With  such  a  burden  on  her  head, 
however,  it  is  plain  that  the  girl  could  not  wear 
her  hat  in  the  ordinary  manner,  and  so  she  car- 
ried it  tied  to  the  back  of  her  neck,  with  its  broad 
brim  covering  her  shoulders.  This,  Mr.  Holiday 
said,  seemed  to  him  to  be  carrying  the  modern 
fashion  of  wearing  the  bonnet  quite  to  an  extreme 


Walk    to    Aigle. 


185 


The  way  in  which  the  Swiss  women  carry  burdens. 

The  Swiss  women  have  other  ways  of  bearing 
burdens,  besides  loading  them  upon  their  heads. 
They  carry  them  upon  their  backs,  sometimes,  in 
baskets  fitted  to  their  shoulders.    A  woman  camo 


THE   BASKET   RIDE. 


by,  while  Rollo  and  his  father  and  mother  were 
sitting  upon  the  logs,  with  her  child  taking  a  ride 
in  such  a  basket  on  her  back.     As  soon  as  this 


186  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

Mrs.  Holiday's  picture.  The  village.  A  cretin. 

woman  was  past,  Rollo  was  so  much  struck  with 
the  comical  appearance  that  the  child  made,  sit- 
ting upright  in  the  basket,  and  looking  around, 
that  he  took  out  some  paper  and  a  pencil  imme- 
diately from  his  portfolio,  and  asked  his  mother 
to  make  a  drawing  of  the  woman,  with  the  child 
in  the  basket  on  her  back.  This  Mrs.  Holiday 
could  easily  do,  even  from  the  brief  glimpse  which 
she  had  of  the  woman  as  she  went  by ;  for  the 
outlines  of  the  figure  and  dress  of  the  woman 
and  of  the  basket  and  child  were  very  simple. 
Mrs.  Holiday  afterwards  put  in  some  of  the  sce- 
nery for  a  background. 

When  the  drawing  was  finished,  Rollo  told  his 
mother  that  he  calculated  that  they  had  come  one 
third  of  the  way,  and  asked  her  if  she  felt  tired  ; 
and  she  said  she  did  not  feel  tired  at  all,  and  so 
they  rose  and  went  on. 

In  a  short  time  they  came  to  a  village.  It 
consisted  of  a  narrow  street,  with  stone  houses 
on  each  side  of  it.  The  houses  were  close  to- 
gether and  close  to  the  street.  In  one  place  sev- 
eral people  were  sitting  out  before  the  door,  and 
among  them  was  a  poor,  sickly  child,  such  as  are 
found  very  often  in  the  low  valleys  of  Switzer- 
land, of  the  kind  called  cretins.  These  children 
are  entirely  helpless,  and  they  have  no  reason,  or 
at  least  very  little.     The  one  which  Rollo  saw 


Walk    to    Aigle.  187 

Rollo  giving  a  cake  to  the  cretin. 

was  a  girl,  and  appeared  to  be  about  ten  years 
old  ;  but  it  did  not  seem  to  have  strength  enough 
to  sit  up  in  its  chair.  It  was  continually  lolling 
and  falling  about  on  this  side  and  that,  and  try- 
ing to  look  up.  The  mother  of  the  child  sat  by 
her,  and  kept  her  from  falling  out  of  the  chair. 
She  was  talking,  the  mean  while,  with  the  neigh- 
bors, who  were  sitting  there  on  a  bench,  knitting 
or  sewing. 

The  face  of  the  child  was  deformed,  and  had 
scarcely  a  human  expression.  Both  Rollo  and 
his  mother  were  much  shocked  at  the  spectacle. 

" It  is  a  cretin — is  it  not?  "  said  Mrs.  Holiday 
to  her  husband,  in  a  whisper,  as  soon  as  they  had 
passed  by. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

"Mother,"  said  Rollo,  "would  you  give  that 
poor  little  thing  a  cake  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  I  would." 

"Do  you  think  she  will  understand?"  asked 
Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  I  think  she  will ; 
and  at  any  rate  her  mother  will." 

Rollo  had  by  this  time  taken  out  his  cake.  He 
went  back  with  it  to  the  place  where  the  women 
were  sitting,  and  held  it  out,  half,  as  it  were,  to 
the  mother,  and  half  to  the  child,  so  that  either 
of  them  might  take  it,  saying,  at  the  same  time, 
to  the  mother,  in  French,  — 


188  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Conversation  with  the  Swiss  mother. 

"  For  this  poor  little  child." 

The  mother  smiled,  and  looked  very  much 
pleased.  The  cretin,  whose  eyes  caught  a  glimpse 
of  the  cake,  laughed,  and  began  to  try  to  reach 
out  her  hand  to  take  it.  It  seemed  hard  for  her 
to  guide  her  hand  to  the  place,  and  she  fell  over 
from  side  to  side  all  the  time  while  attempting  to 
do  so.  She  would  have  fallen  entirely  if  her 
mother  had  not  held  her  up.  At  length  she  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  hold  of  the  cake,  which  she 
carried  directly  to  her  mouth,  and  then  laughed 
again  with  a  laugh  that  seemed  scarcely  human, 
and  was  hideous  to  see. 

"  Does  she  understand  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  mother ;  "  she  understands,  but 
she  can't  speak,  poor  thing.  But  she  is  very 
much  obliged  to  you  indeed." 

So  Rollo  bowed  to  the  mother  of  the  child,  and 
to  the  other  women,  and  then  went  on  and  re- 
joined his  father  and  mother. 

They  passed  through  the  village,  and  then 
came  into  the  open  country  again.  Sometimes 
the  mountains  that  bordered  the  valley  receded 
to  some  distance  ;  at  other  times  they  came  very 
near  ;  and  there  was  one  place  where  they  formed 
a  range  of  lofty  precipices  a  thousand  feet  high, 
that  seemed  almost  to  overhang  the  road.  Here 
Rollo  stopped  to  look  up.    He  saw,  near  a  round 


Walk    to    Aigle.  189 

Eagles  learning  to  fly.  Vineyard  terraces. 

ed  mass  of  rock,  half  way  up  the  mountain,  two 
young  eagles  that  had  apparently  just  left  their 
nest,  and  were  trying  to  learn  to  fly.  The  old 
eagles  were  soaring  around  them,  screaming. 
They  seemed  to  be  afraid  that  their  young  ones 
would  fall  down  the  rocks  and  get  killed.  Rollo 
wished  that  they  would  fall  down,  or  at  least  fly 
down,  to  where  he  was,  in  order  that  he  might 
catch  one  of  them.  But  they  did  not.  They 
took  only  short  flights  from  rock  to  rock  and 
from  thicket  to  thicket,  but  they  did  not  come 
down.  So,  after  watching  them  for  a  time,  Rollo 
went  on. 

Next  they  came  to  a  place  where  the  valley 
took  a  turn  so  as  to  expose  the  mountain  side  to 
the  sun  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  a  good  place 
there  for  grapes  to  grow  and  ripen.  The  people 
had  accordingly  terraced  the  whole  declivity  by 
building  walls,  one  above  another,  to  support 
the  earth  for  the  vineyards  ;  and  when  Rollo  was 
going  by  the  place  he  looked  up  and  saw  a  man 
standing  on  the  wall  of  one  of  the  terraces,  with 
the  tool  which  he  had  been  working  with  in  his 
hand.  He  seemed  suspended  in  mid  air,  and 
looked  down  on  the  road  and  on  the  people  walk- 
ing along  it  as  a  man  would  look  down  upon  a 
street  in  London  from  the  gallery  under  the 
dome  of  St.  Paul's. 


190  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

The  watch  tower  in  the  vineyard.  Arrival  at  Aigle. 

"  That's  a  pleasant  place  to  work,"  said  Rollo, 
"  away  up  there,  between  the  heavens  and  the 
earth." 

"  Yes,"  said  his  mother  ;  "  and  I  should  think 
that  taking  care  of  vines  and  gathering  the 
grapes  would  be  very  pretty  work  to  do." 

There  was  a  little  building  on  the  corner  of 
one  of  the  terraces,  which  Mr.  Holiday  said  was 
a  watch  tower.  There  were  windows  on  all  the 
sides  of  it. 

"  When  the  grapes  begin  to  ripen,"  said  he, 
"  there  is  a  man  stationed  there  to  watch  all  the 
vineyards  around,  in  order  to  prevent  people 
from  stealing  the  grapes." 

11 1  should  think  there  would  be  danger  of  their 
stealing  the  grapes,"  said  Rollo. 

After  going  on  a  little  way  beyond  this,  they 
began  to  approach  the  town  of  Aigle.  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday was  surprised  that  she  could  have  come  so 
far  with  so  little  fatigue.  Rollo  told  her  that  it 
was  because  she  had  walked  along  so  slowly. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday;  "and  because  there 
have  been  so  many  things  to  take  up  our  atten- 
tion by  the  way." 

When  they  arrived  at  the  village  they  went 
directly  to  the  inn.  The  inns  in  these  country 
towns  in  Switzerland  are  the  largest  and  most 
conspicuous  looking  buildings  to  be  seen.     Rollo 


Walk    to    Aigle.  191 

The  dining  room  in  the  Swiss  inns.  Dinner  ordered. 

went  first,  and  led  the  way.  He  went  directly 
to  the  dining  room. 

The  dining  rooms  in  these  inns,  as  I  have 
already  said,  are  the  public  rooms,  where  the 
company  always  go,  whether  they  wish  for  any 
thing  to  eat  or  not.  There  is  usually  one  large 
table,  for  dinner,  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  and 
several  smaller  tables  at  the  sides  or  at  the  win- 
dows, for  breakfasts  and  luncheons,  and  also  for 
small  dinner  parties  of  two  or  three.  Besides 
these  tables,  there  is  often  one  with  a  pen  and  ink 
upon  it  for  writing,  and  another  for  knapsacks 
and  carpet  bags  ;  and  there  are  sofas  for  the 
company  to  repose  upon  while  the  waiter  is  set- 
ting the  table  for  them. 

Rollo  accordingly  led  the  way  at  once  to  the 
dining  room  of  the  inn,  and  conducted  his  mother 
to  a  sofa. 

"  Now,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  order  us  a 
dinner." 

So  Rollo  went  to  the  waiter,  and  after  talking 
with  him  a  little  while,  came  back  and  said  that 
he  had  ordered  some  fried  trout,  some  veal  cut- 
lets, fried  potatoes,  an  omelet,  and  some  coffee. 

"  And  besides  that,"  said  Rollo,  "  he  is  going  to 
give  us  some  plums  and  some  pears.  This  is  a 
famous  place  for  plums  and  pears." 

"  And  for  grapes,  too^  in  the  season  of  them," 
Baid  Mr.  Holiday. 


192  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

Rollo  reads  the  advertisement  of  the  grape  cure. 

This  was  very  true.  Indeed,  on  looking  about 
the  walls  of  the  room,  to  see  the  maps  and  the 
pretty  pictures  of  Swiss  scenery  that  were  theres 
Rollo  found  among  the  other  things  an  advertise- 
ment of  what  was  called  the  grape  cure.  It  seems 
that  eating  ripe  grapes  was  considered  a  cure  for 
sickness  in  that  country,  and  that  people  were 
accustomed  to  come  to  that  very  town  of  Aigle 
to  procure  them.  There  was  no  place  in  Switzer- 
land, the  advertisement  said,  where  the  grapes 
were  richer  and  sweeter  than  there. 

The  advertisement  went  on  to  say  that  the  sea- 
son for  the  grape  cure  was  in  September,  Octo- 
ber, and  November  ;  that  there  were  a  number 
of  fine  vineyards  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town 
which  produced  the  most  delicious  grapes ;  and 
that  these  vineyards  were  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  guests  of  the  hotel  at  the  rate  of  a  franc 
a  day  for  each  person  ;  so  that  for  that  sum  they 
could  have  every  day  as  many  as  they  could  eat ; 
and  this  was  to  be  their  medicine,  to  make  them 
well. 

Rollo  read  this  advertisement  aloud  to  his 
father  and  mother,  with  a  tone  of  voice  which 
indicated  a  very  eager  interest  in  it. 

"  Father,"  said  he,  "  I  wish  you  would  come 
here  and  try  it.  Perhaps  it  would  make  you 
well." 


Walk    to    Aigle.  193 

Rollo's  plan  for  his  father.  A  new  arriyal. 

The  advertisement  was  in  French,  and  Rollo 
translated  it  as  he  read  it.  He  succeeded  very 
well  in  rendering  into  English  all  that  was  said 
about  the  grapes,  and  the  manner  of  taking  them, 
and  the  terms  for  boarders  at  the  hotel ;  but 
when  he  came  to  the  names  of  the  diseases  that 
the  grapes  would  cure,  he  was  at  a  loss,  as  most 
of  them  were  learned  medical  words,  which  he 
had  never  seen  before.  So  he  read  off  the  names 
in  French,  and  concluded  by  asking  his  father 
whether  he  did  not  think  it  was  some  of  those 
things  that  was  the  matter  with  him. 

"Very  likely,"  said  his  father. 

"  Then,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  wish  you  would 
come  here  in  October,  and  try  the  grape  cure, 
and  bring  me  too." 

"  Yery  likely  I  may,"  said  his  father.  "  This 
is  on  the  great  road  to  Italy,  and  we  may  con- 
clude to  go  to  Italy  this  winter." 

Just  at  this  time  the  door  of  the  dining  room 
opened,  and  a  new  party  came  in.  It  consisted 
of  a  gentleman  and  lady,  who  seemed  to  be  a  new 
married  pair.  They  came  in  a  carriage.  Rollo 
looked  out  the  window,  and  saw  the  carriage 
drive  away  from  the  door  to  go  to  the  stable. 

The  gentleman  put  his  haversack  and  the  lady's 
satchel  and  shawl  down  upon  the  table>  and  then 
13 


194  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

After  dinner  the  party  go  out  to  walk.  The  castle  jail. 

took  a  seat  with  her  upon  another  sofa  which  waa 
in  the  room. 

The  dinner  which  Rollo  had  ordered  was  soon 
ready,  and  they  sat  down  to  eat  it  with  excellent 
appetites.  While  they  were  at  dinner,  Rollo 
inquired  of  the  waiter  what  time  the  omnibus 
went  to  Yilleneuve,  and  he  learned  that  it  did 
not  go  for  some  hours.  So  Mr.  Holiday  told  hia 
wife  that  she  might  either  have  a  chamber,  and 
lie  down  and  rest  herself  during  that  time,  or 
they  might  go  out  and  take  a  walk. 

Mrs.  Holiday  said  that  she  did  not  feel  at  all 
fatigued,  and  so  she  would  like  to  go  and  take  a 
walk. 

There  was  a  castle  on  a  rising  ground  just  in 
the  rear  of  the  village,  which  had  attracted  her 
attention  in  coming  into  the  town,  and  she  was 
desirous  of  going  to  see  it. 

Se  chey  all  set  off  to  go  and  see  the  castle. 
They  found  their  way  to  it  without  any  difficulty. 
It  proved  to  be  an  ancient  castle,  built  in  the 
middle  ages,  but  it  was  used  now  for  a  prison. 
The  family  of  the  jailer  lived  in  it  too.  It  looked 
old  and  gone  to  decay. 

When  they  entered  the  court  yard,  a  woman 
looked  up  to  the  windows  and  called  out  Julie ! 
Presently  a  young  girl  answered  to  the  call,  and 
the  woman  told  her  that  here  were  some  people 


Walk    to    Aigle.  195 

What  Rollo  and  his  parents  saw  at  the  jail. 

come  to  see  the  castle.  So  Julie  came  down  and 
took  them  under  her  charge. 

The  party  spent  half  an  hour  in  rambling  over 
the  castle.  They  went  through  all  sorts  of  intri- 
cate passages,  and  up  and  down  flights  of  stone 
Btairs,  steep,  and  narrow,  and  winding.  They 
saw  a  number  of  dismal  dungeons.  Some  were 
dark,  so  that  the  girl  had  to  take  a  candle  to 
light  the  way.  The  doors  were  old,  and  black- 
ened by  time,  and  they  moved  heavily  on  rusty 
hinges.  The  bolts,  and  bars,  and  locks  were  all 
rusted,  too,  so  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  move 
them. 

The  visitors  did  not  see  all  the  dungeons  and" 
cells,  for  some  of  them  had  prisoners  in  them 
then,  and  those  doors  Julie  said  she  was  not 
allowed  to  open,  for  fear  that  the  prisoners 
should  get  away. 

After  rambling  about  the  old  castle  as  much  as 
they  desired  to  do,  and  ascending  to  the  tower  to 
view  the  scenery,  the  party  came  down  again, 
and  returned  to  the  inn. 

They  found  the  dining  room  full  of  boys. 
These  boys  were  sitting  at  a  long  table,  eating  a 
luncheon.  They  were  the  boys  of  a  school.  The 
teacher  was  at  the  head  of  the  table.  Eollo 
talked  with  some  of  the  boys,  for  he  found  two 
or  three  that  could  talk  French  and  English, 
though  their  English  was  not  very  good. 


196 


R o l l o    in    Geneva 


The  return  to  Villeneuve,  and  thence  to  Genera. 

In  due  time  the  omnibus  came  to  the  door,  and 
then  Rollo  conducted  his  father  and  mother  to  it, 
and  assisted  them  to  get  in.  The  sun  was  now 
nearly  down,  and  the  party  had  a  delightful  ride, 
in  the  cool  air  of  the  evening,  back  to  Villeneuve. 

The  next  day  they  embarked  on  board  the 
learner,  and  returned  to  Geneva. 


The    Jewelry.  19* 

The  manufactures  of  Geneva.  Is  it  right  to  wear  ornaments  f 


Chapter    XV. 
The    Jewelry. 

1  have  already  said  that  Geneva  is  a  very 
famous  place  for  the  manufacture  of  watches  and 
jewelry,  and  that  almost  every  person  who  goes 
there  likes  to  buy  some  specimen  of  these  manu- 
factures as  a  souvenir  of  their  visit. 

There  is  a  great  difference  in  ladies,  in  respeci 
to  the  interest  which  they  take  in  dress  and  orna- 
ments. Some  greatly  undervalue  them,  some 
greatly  overvalue  them. 

Some  ladies,  especially  such  as  are  of  a  very 
conscientious  and  religious  turn  of  mind,  are  apt 
to  imagine  that  there  is  something  wrong  in 
itself  in  wearing  ornaments  or  in  taking  pleasure 
in  them.  But  we  should  remember  that  God 
himself  has  ornamented  every  thing  in  nature 
that  has  not  power  to  ornament  itself.  Look  at 
the  flowers,  the  fruits,  the  birds,  the  fields,  the 
butterflies,  the  insects ;  see  how  beautiful  they 
all  are  made  by  ornaments  with  which  God  has 
embellished  them. 


198  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Yes ;  but  most  persons  err  upon  the  other  extreme 

God  has  not  ornamented  man,  nor  has  he 
clothed  him ;  but  he  has  given  him  the  powers 
and  faculties  necessary  to  clothe  and  ornament 
himself.  He  has  provided  him  with  the  means, 
too,  and  with  the  means  as  much  for  the  one  as 
for  the  other.  There  are  cotton  and  flax  which 
he  can  procure  from  plants,  and  wool  and  fur  from 
animals,  for  his  clothing ;  and  then  there  are  gold 
and  silver  in  the  earth,  and  rubies,  emeralds,  and 
diamonds,  for  his  ornaments ;  and  if  we  are  not 
to  use  them,  what  were  they  made  for  ? 

They,  therefore,  seem  to  be  in  error  who  dis- 
card all  ornaments,  and  think  that  to  wear  them 
or  to  take  pleasure  in  them  is  wrong. 

But  this,  after  all,  is  not  the  common  failing. 
The  danger  is  usually  altogether  the  other  way. 
A  great  many  ladies  overvalue  ornaments.  They 
seem  to  think  of  scarcely  any  thing  else.  They 
cannot  have  too  many  rings,  pins,  bracelets,  and 
jewels.  They  spend  all  their  surplus  money  for 
these  things,  and  even  sometimes  pinch  themselves 
in  comforts  and  necessaries,  to  add  to  their 
already  abundant  supplies.  This  excessive  fond- 
ness for  dress  and  articles  for  personal  adorn- 
ment is  a  mark  of  a  weak  mind.  It  is  seen  most 
strongly  in  savages,  and  in  people  of  the  lowest 
stages  of  refinement  and  cultivation.  The  oppo- 
site error,  though  far  less  common,  is  equally  an 


The    Jewelry.  199 

A  queer  reason  for  buying  jewelry. 

error ;  and  though  it  is  not  the  mark  of  any 
weakness  of  the  mind,  it  certainly  denotes  a 
degree  of  perversion  in  some  of  the  workings 
of  it. 

The  morning  after  the  return  of  our  party  to 
Geneva  from  their  excursion  along  the  lake,  they 
made  their  arrangements  for  leaving  Geneva 
finally  on  the  following  day. 

"And  now,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  to  his  wife, 
"  Geneva  is  a  famous  place  for  ornaments  and 
jewelry  ;  and  before  we  go,  I  think  you  had  bet- 
ter go  with  me  to  some  of  the  shops,  and  buy 
something  of  that  kind,  as  a  souvenir  of  your 
visit." 

11  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  if  you  think  it  is 
best,  we  will.  Only  I  don't  think  much  of  orna- 
ments and  jewelry." 

"•I-  know  you  do  not,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  and 
that  is  the  reason  why  I  think  you  had  better  buy 
some  here." 

Mrs.  Holiday  laughed.  She  thought  it  was 
rather  a  queer  reason  for  wishing  her  to  buy  a 
l,hing  —  that  she  did  not  care  much  about  it. 

Rollo  was  present  during  this  conversation 
oetween  his  father  and  mother,  and  listened  to 
it ;  and  when,  finally,  it  was  decided  that  his 
mother  should  go  to  one  or  two  of  the  shops 
in   Geneva,  to   look  at,  and  perhaps   purchase, 


200  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Hollo's  finances.  Arrangement  of  the  jewelry  shops. 

some  of  the  ornaments  and  jewelry,  he  wishecj 
to  go  too. 

"  Why  ?  "  said  his  mother  ;  "  do  you  wish  to 
buy  any  of  those  things  ?  n 

Rollo  said  he  did.  He  wished  to  buy  some  for 
presents. 

"  Have  you  got  any  money  ?  "  asked  his  father. 

"  Yes,  sir,  plenty,"  said  Rollo. 

Rollo  was  a  very  good  manager  in  respect  to 
his  finances,  and  always  kept  a  good  supply  of 
cash  on  hand,  laid  up  from  his  allowance,  so  as 
to  be  provided  in  case  of  any  sudden  emergency 
like  this. 

So  the  party  set  out  together,  after  breakfast, 
to  look  at  the  shops.  They  knew  the  shops 
where  jewelry  was  kept  for  sale  by  the  display 
of  rings,  pins,  bracelets,  and  pretty  little  watches, 
that  were  put  up  at  the  windows.  They  went 
into  several  of  them.  The  shops  were  not  large, 
but  the  interior  of  them  presented  quite  a  pecu- 
liar aspect.  There  were  no  goods  of  any  kind, 
except  those  in  the  windows,  to  be  seen,  nor  were 
there  even  any  shelves  ;  but  the  three  sides  of  the 
room  were  filled  with  little  drawers,  extending 
from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling.  These  drawers 
were  filled  with  jewelry  of  the  richest  and  most 
costly  description ;  and  thus,  though  there  was 
nothing  to  be  seen  at  first  view,  the  value  of  the 


The    Jewelry.  201 

Conveniences  for  the  customers.  A  fashionable  party. 

merchandise  ready  to  be  displayed  at  a  moment's 
notice  was  very  great. 

In  the  centre  of  the  room,  in  front  of  the 
drawers,  were  counters  —  usually  two,  one  on 
each  side ;  and  sometimes  there  was  a  table  be* 
sides.  The  table  and  the  counters  were  elegantly 
made,  of  fine  cabinet  work,  and  before  them  were 
placed  handsome  chairs  and  sofas,  nicely  cush- 
ioned, so  that  the  customers  might  sit  at  their 
ease,  and  examine  the  ornaments  which  the  shop- 
keeper showed  them.  The  counters  were  of  the 
same  height  as  the  table,  and  there  were  drawers 
in  them  below,  and  also  in  the  table,  like  those 
along  the  sides  of  the  room. 

At  the  first  shop  where  our  party  went  in,  two 
ladies,  very  showily  dressed,  were  sitting  at  a 
table,  looking  at  a  great  variety  of  pins,  rings, 
and  bracelets  that  the  shopkeeper  had  placed 
before  them.  The  articles  were  contained  in 
little  rosewood  and  mahogany  trays,  lined  with 
velvet ;  and  they  looked  very  brilliant  and  beau- 
tiful as  they  lay,  each  in  its  own  little  velvet  nest. 

The  ladies  looked  up  from  the  table,  and  gazed 
with  a  peculiar  sort  of  stare,  well  known  among 
fashionable  people  of  a  certain  sort,  upon  Mrs. 
Holiday,  as  she  came  in.  One  of  them  put  up  a 
little  eye  glass  to  her  eye,  in  order  to  see  her 
more  distinctly.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday,  followed 


202  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

The  dialogue  of  the  two  ladies  about  the  bracelet. 

by  Rollo,  advanced  and  took  their  places  on  a 
sofa  before  one  of  the  counters.  The  ladies  then 
continued  their  conversation,  apparently  taking 
no  notice  of  the  new  comers. 

One  of  the  ladies  was  holding  a  bracelet  in 
her  hand.  She  had  already  two  bracelets  on 
each  wrist,  and  ever  so  many  rings  on  her  fingers, 
besides  a  large  brooch  in  her  collar,  and  a  double 
gold  chain  to  her  watch,  with  a  great  number  of 
breloques  and  charms  attached  to  it.  She  seemed 
to  be  considering  whether  she  should  buy  the 
bracelet  that  she  was  holding  in  her  hand  or  not. 

"  It  certainly  is  a  beauty,"  said  she. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  other ;  "  and  if  I  were  you, 
Almira,  I  would  take  it  without  hesitating  a  mo- 
ment.    You  can  afford  it  just  as  well  as  not." 

"  It  is  so  high ! "  said  Almira,  doubtingly,  and 
holding  up  the  bracelet,  so  as  to  see  the  light 
reflected  from  the  surfaces  of  the  precious  stones 

"  I  don't  think  it  is  high  at  all,"  said  her  friend  ; 
"  that  is,  for  such  stones  and  such  setting.  A 
thousand  francs,  he  says,  and  that  is  only  two 
hundred  dollars.  That  is  nothing  at  all  for  so 
rich  a  husband  as  yours." 

"  I  know,"  said  Almira  ;  "  but  then  he  always 
makes  such  wry  faces  if  I  buy  any  thing  that 
costs  more  than  fifty  or  seventy-five  dollars." 

"  I  would  not  mind  his  wry  faces  at  all,"  said 


The    Jewelry.  205 

What  the  shopkeeper  said  in  reply  to  Almira. 

her  friend.  "He  does  not  mean  any  thing  by 
them.  Depend  upon  it,  he  is  as  proud  to  see  you 
wear  handsome  things  as  any  man,  after  he  has 
once  paid  for  them.  Then,  besides,  perhaps  the 
man  will  take  something  off  from  the  thousand 
francs." 

11 1  will  ask  him,"  said  Almira. 

So  she  called  the  shopman  to  her,  and  asked 
him  in  French  whether  he  could  not  take  eight 
hundred  francs  for  the  bracelet. 

She  accosted  him  in  French,  for  that  is  the  lan- 
guage of  Geneva ;  and  the  two  ladies  had  talked 
very  freely  to  each  other  in  English,  supposing 
that  neither  the  shopkeeper  nor  the  new  party 
of  customers  would  understand  what  they  were 
saying.  But  it  happened  that  the  shopkeeper 
himself,  as  well  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday,  under- 
stood English  very  well,  and  thus  he  knew  the 
meaning  of  all  that  the  ladies  had  been  saying ; 
and  he  was  too  well  acquainted  with  human  nature 
not  to  know  that  the  end  of  such  a  consultation 
and  deliberation  as  that  would  be  the  purchase 
of  the  bracelet,  and  was  therefore  not  at  all  dis- 
posed to  abate  the  price. 

"  No,  madam,"  said  he,  speaking  in  French,  and 
in  a  very  polite  and  obliging  manner  ;  "  I  cannot 
vary  from  the  price  I  named  at  all.  We  are 
obliged  to  adopt  the  system  of  having  only  one 


206  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

« — —    ■» 

Apparent  generosity.  The  secret  motiTe  of  Almira's  friend. 

price  here.  Besides,  that  bracelet  could  not  pos* 
sibly  be  afforded  for  less  than  a  thousand  francs. 
Earlier  in  the  season  we  asked  twelve  hundred 
francs  for  it ;  and  I  assure  you,  madam,  that  it  ia 
a  great  bargain  at  a  thousand." 

After  looking  at  the  bracelet  a  little  longer, 
and  holding  it  up  again  in  different  lights,  and 
hearing  her  friend's  solicitations  that  she  would 
purchase  it  repeated  in  various  forms,  Almira 
finally  concluded  to  take  it. 

It  may  seem,  at  first  view,  that  Almira's  friend 
evinced  a  great  deal  of  generosity  in  urging  her 
thus  to  buy  an  ornament  more  rich  and  costly 
than  she  could  hope  to  purchase  for  herself ;  but 
her  secret  motive  was  not  a  generous  one  at  all. 
She  wished  to  quote  Almira's  example  to  her  own 
husband,  as  a  justification  for  her  having  bought 
a  richer  piece  of  jewelry  than  he  would  otherwise 
have  approved  of. 

"  Mine  only  cost  eight  hundred  francs,"  she  was 
going  to  say  ;  "  and  cousin  Almira  bought  one 
that  cost  a  thousand." 

In  this  way  she  hoped  to  exhibit  to  her  husband 
that  which  he  might  otherwise  have  regarded  as 
foolish  extravagance  in  the  light  of  self-denial 
and  prudent  economy. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  Almira  and  her  friend 
had  been  making  their  purchases  at  the  table, 


The    Jewelry.  207 

What  sort  of  ornaments  Mrs.  Holiday  asked  for. 

another  shopman  had  been  displaying  a  great 
many  trays  to  Mrs.  Holiday  on  one  of  the  coun- 
ters.  The  ornaments  contained  in  these  trays 
were  by  no  means  as  costly  as  those  which  had 
been  shown  to  the  two  ladies  at  the  table ;  for 
Mrs.  Holiday  had  said  to  the  shopman,  as  she 
came  in,  that  she  wished  to  see  only  some  simple 
pins  and  other  ornaments  worth  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  francs.  They  were,  however,  just  as 
pretty  in  Mrs.  Holiday's  opinion.  Indeed,  the 
beauty  of  such  ornaments  as  these  seldom  has  any 
relation  to  the  costliness  of  them.  This,  however, 
constitutes  no  reason,  in  the  opinion  of  many 
ladies,  why  they  should  buy  the  less  expensive 
ones  ;  for  with  these  ladies  it  is  the  costliness  of 
an  ornament,  rather  than  the  beauty  of  it,  that 
constitutes  its  charm. 

The  two  ladies  paid  for  their  purchases  with 
gold  coins  which  they  took  from  elegant  gold- 
mounted  porte-monnaies  that  they  carried  in  their 
hands,  and  then,  with  a  dash  and  a  flourish,  went 
away. 

Mrs.  Holiday  took  up  one  after  another  of  the 
ornaments  before  her,  and  looked  at  them  with  a 
musing  air  and  manner,  that  seemed  to  denote 
that  her  thoughts  were  not  upon  them.  She  wa&> 
thinking  how  erroneous  an  estimate  those  ladies 
torm  of  the  comparative  value  of  the  different 


208  Rollo  in    Geneva. 

Mrs.  Holiday's  purchases.  Rollo's.  Cousin  Lucy. 

sources  of  happiness  within  the  reach  of  women 
who  sacrifice  the  confidence  and  love  of  their 
husbands  to  the  possession  of  a  pearl  necklace  or 
a  diamond  pin. 

Mrs.  Holiday  finally  bought  two  ornaments, 
and  Rollo  bought  two  also.  Rollo's  were  small 
pins.  They  were  very  pretty  indeed.  One  of 
them  cost  twelve  francs,  and  the  other  fifteen. 
His  mother  asked  him  whether  he  was  going  to 
wear  them  himself. 

"  0,  no,  mother/'  said  he ;  "I  have  bought 
them  to  give  away." 

His  mother  then  asked  him  whom  he  was  going 
to  give  them  to.  He  laughed,  and  said  that  that 
was  a  secret.  He  would  tell  her,  however,  he 
said,  whom  one  of  them  was  for.  It  was  for  his 
cousin  Lucy. 

"  And  which  of  them  is  for  her  ?  "  asked  his 
mother. 

"  This  one,"  said  Rollo.  So  saying  he  showed 
his  mother  the  one  that  cost  twelve  francs. 


A  Fortunate    Accident.     209 

M*'    holiday's  idea  of  a  fortunate  accident.  Gerald. 


C  HAPTES     XVI. 

A  Fortunate    Accident. 

The  day  before  Rollo  left  Geneva,  he  met  witli 
an  accident  which  his  father  called  a  fortunate 
one,  though  Rollo  himself  was  at  first  inclined  to 
consider  it  quite  an  unfortunate  one.  The  reason 
why  Mr.  Holiday  considered  it  fortunate  was, 
that  no  evil  result  followed  from  it,  except  giving 
Rollo  a  good  fright  "  It  is  always  a  lucky  thing 
for  a  boy,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  when  he  meets 
with  any  accident  that  frightens  him  well,  pro- 
vided it  does  not  hurt  him  much." 

The  accident  that  happened  to  Rollo  was  this : 
There  was  a  boy  at  the  hotel,  who  had  recently 
come  with  his  father  and  mother  from  India.  He 
was  the  son  of  an  English  army  officer.  Hia 
aame  was  Gerald.  He  was  a  tall  and  handsome 
ooy,  and  was  about  a  year  older  than  Rollo. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  day  before  the  party 
were  to  leave  Geneva,  Rollo  came  in  from  the 
quay,  where  he  had  been  out  to  take  a  walk,  and 
14 


210  Rollo  in   Geneva. 

Rollo  forms  a  plan  of  going  out  in  a  boat. 

asked  permission  to  go  out  on  the  lake,  a  little 
way,  in  a  boat,  with  Gerald. 

"  Does  Gerald  understand  how  to  manage  a 
boat  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  0,  yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo.  "  He  has  been  all 
over  the  world,  and  he  knows  how  to  manage 
every  thing.  Besides,  I  can  manage  a  boat  my- 
self well  enough  to  go  out  on  this  lake.  It  is  as 
smooth  as  a  mill  pond." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "Only  it 
must  not  be  a  sail  boat.  You  must  take  oars ; 
and  look  out  well  that  the  Rhone  does  not  catch 
you." 

Rollo  understood  very  well  that  his  father 
meant  by  this  that  he  must  be  careful  not  to  let 
the  current,  which  was  all  the  time  drawing  the 
water  of  the  lake  off  under  the  bridge,  and  thus 
forming  the  Rhone  below,  carry  the  boat  down. 
Rollo  said  that  he  would  be  very  careful ;  and 
off  he  went  to  rejoin  Gerald  on  the  quay. 

Gerald  was  already  in  the  boat.  He  had  with 
him,  also,  a  Swiss  boy,  whom  he  had  engaged  to 
go  too,  as  a  sort  of  attendant,  and  to  help  row, 
if  necessary.  An  English  boy,  in  such  cases, 
never  considers  the  party  complete  unless  he  has 
some  one  to  occupy  the  place  of  a  servant,  and 
to  be  under  his  command. 

So  the  three  boys  got  into  the  boat,  and  pushed 


A  Fortunate    Accident.     211 

They  have  a  good  time  on  the  water.  The  current. 

off  from  the  shore.  For  a  time  every  thing  went 
on  well  and  pleasantly.  Rollo  and  the  others 
had  a  fine  time  in  rowing  to  and  fro  over  the 
smooth  water,  from  one  beautiful  point  of  land  to 
another,  on  the  lake  shores,  and  sometimes  in 
lying  still  on  the  calm  surface,  to  rest  from  the 
labor,  and  to  amuse  themselves  in  looking  down 
in  the  beautiful  blue  depths  beneath  them,  and 
watching  the  fishes  that  were  swimming  about 
there.  At  last,  in  the  course  of  their  manceu- 
vrings,  they  happened  to  take  the  boat  rather  too 
near  the  bridge.  The  attention  of  the  boys  was 
at  the  time  directed  to  something  that  they  saw 
in  the  water  ;  and  they  did  not  perceive  how  near 
the  bridge  they  were  until  Rollo  happened  to  ob- 
serve that  the  stones  at  the  bottom  seemed  to  be 
rapidly  moving  along  in  the  direction  towards 
the  lake. 

"  My ! "  said  Rollo  ;  "  see  how  fast  the  stones 
are  going ! " 

"  The  stones !  "  exclaimed  Gerald,  starting  up, 
and  seizing  an  oar.  "It's  the  boatl  We  are 
going  under  the  bridge,  as  sure  as  fate  !  Put  out 
your  oar,  Rollo,  and  pull  for  your  life !     Pull !  " 

Both  Rollo  and  the  Swiss  boy  immediately  put 
out  their  oars  and  pulled  ;  but  Gerald  soon  found 
that  the  current  was  too  strong  for  them.  In 
spite  of  all  they  could  do,  the  boat  was  evidently 
slowly  drifting  towards  the  bridge. 


212  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

The  boat  gets  carried  under  the  bridge.  She  strikes. 

"  It  is  of  no  use,"  said  Gerald,  at  last.  "  We 
shall  have  to  go  through ;  but  that  will  do  no 
harm  if  we  can  only  manage  to  keep  her  from 
striking  the  piers.  Take  in  your  oars,  boys,  and 
let  me  pull  her  round  so  as  to  head  down  stream, 
and  you  stand  ready  to  fend  off  when  we  are 
going  under." 

The  excitement  of  this  scene  was  very  great, 
and  Rollo's  first  impulse  was  to  scream  for  help  ; 
but  observing  how  cool  and  collected  Gerald  ap- 
peared, he  felt  somewhat  reassured,  and  at  once 
obeyed  Gerald's  orders.  He  took  in  his  oar,  and 
holding  it  in  his  hands,  as  if  it  had  been  a  boat 
hook  or  a  setting  pole,  he  prepared  to  fend  off 
from  the  piers  when  the  boat  went  through.  In 
the  mean  time  Gerald  had  succeeded  in  getting 
the  boat  round,  so  as  to  point  the  bows  down 
stream,  just  as  she  reached  the  bridge ;  and  in 
this  position  she  shot  under  it  like  an  arrow. 
Several  boys  who  were  standing  on  the  bridge  at 
this  time,  after  watching  at  the  upper  side  till  the 
boat  went  under,  ran  across  to  the  lower  side,  to 
see  her  come  out. 

The  boat  passed  through  the  bridge  safely, 
though  the  stern  struck  against  the  pier  on  one 
side,  just  as  it  was  emerging.  The  reason  of  this 
was,  that  Gerald,  in  bringing  it  round  so  as  to 
head  down  the  stream,  had  given  it  a  rotating 


A  Fortunate  Accident.  213 

Rollo  afraid  of  snags.  Exertions  made  by  tho  boys. 

motion,  which  continued  while  it  was  passing 
under  the  bridge,  and  thus  brought  the  stern 
round  against  the  pier.  No  harm  was  done, 
however,  except  that_  the  boat  received  a  rather 
rude  concussion  by  the  blow. 

"  Now,  boys,"  said  Gerald,  speaking  in  French, 
11  we  must  keep  her  head  and  stern  up  and  down 
the  stream,  or  we  shall  make  shipwreck." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  in  English  ;  "  if  we  should 
strike  a  snag  or  any  thing,  broadside  on,  the  boat 
would  roll  right  over." 

"A  snag!"  repeated  Gerald,  contemptuously. 
The  idea  was  indeed  absurd  of  finding  a  snag  in 
the  River  Rhone  ;  for  a  snag  is  formed  by  a  float- 
ing tree,  which  is  washed  into  the  river  by  the 
undermining  of  the  banks,  and  is  then  carried 
down  until  it  gets  lodged.  There  are  millions 
of  such  trees  in  the  Mississippi,  but  none  in  the 
Rhone. 

However,  Rollo  was  right  in  his  general  idea. 
There  might  be  obstructions  of  some  sort  in  the 
river,  which  it  would  be  dangerous  for  the  boat 
to  encounter  broadside  on  ;  so  he  took  hold  reso- 
lutely of  the  work  of  helping  Gerald  bring  it 
into  a  position  parallel  with  the  direction  of  the 
stream.  In  the  mean  time  the  boat  was  swept 
down  the  torrent  with  fearful  rapidity.  It  glided 
swiftly  on  amid  boiling  whirlpools  and  sheets  of 


214  Hollo  in   Geneva. 

Appearance  of  the  shores.  Rollo  loses  an  oar. 

rippling  foam,  that  were  quite  frightful  to  see. 
The  buildings  of  the  town  here  bordered  the 
banks  of  the  river  on  each  side,  and  there  were 
little  jutting  piers  and  platforms  here  and  there, 
with  boys  upon  them  in  some  places,  fishing,  and 
women  washing  clothes  in  others.  The  boys  in 
the  boat  did  not  call  for  help,  and  so  nobody 
attempted  to  come  and  help  them.  Gerald's 
plan  was  to  keep  the  boat  headed  right,  and  so 
let  her  drift  on  until  she  had  passed  through  the 
town,  in  hopes  of  being  able  to  bring  her  up 
somewhere  on  the  shore  below. 

At  one  time  the  force  of  the  current  carried 
them  quite  near  to  the  shore,  at  a  place  where 
Gerald  thought  it  would  be  dangeious  to  attempt 
to  land,  and  he  called  out  aloud  to  Rollo  to  "  fend 
off."  Rollo  attempted  to  do  so,  and  in  the  attempt 
he  lost  his  oar.  He  was  standing  near  the  bows 
at  the  time,  and  as  he  planted  his  oar  against  the 
bottom,  the  current  carried  the  boat  on  with  such 
irresistible  impetuosity  that  the  oar  was  wrested 
from  his  hand  in  an  instant.  If  he  had  not  let 
go  of  it  he  would  have  been  pulled  over  himself. 
Gerald,  however,  had  the  presence  of  mind  to 
reach  out  his  own  oar  at  once,  and  draw  the  lost 
one  back  towards  the  boat,  so  that  the  Swiss  boy 
seized  it,  and,  to  Rollo's  great  joy,  took  it  in 
again. 


A  Fortunate    Accident.     215 

Narrow  escapes.  The  boat  at  length  gains  the  shore. 

The  boat  at  one  time  came  very  near  drifting 
against  onf  of  the  great  water  wheels  which  were 
revolving  in  the  stream.  Gerald  perceived  the 
danger  just  in  time,  and  he  contrived  to  turn  the 
head  of  the  boat  out  towards  the  centre  of  the 
river,  and  then  commanding  Rollo  and  the  Swiss 
boy  to  row,  and  pulling,  himself,  with  all  his  force, 
he  just  succeeded  in  escaping  the  danger. 

By  this  time  the  boat  had  passed  by  the  town, 
and  it  now  came  to  a  part  of  the  river  which 
was  bordered  by  smooth,  grassy  banks  on  each 
side,  and  with  a  row  of  willows  growing  near 
the  margin  of  tl  e  water.  This  was  the  place,  in 
fact,  where  Rollo  had  walked  along  the  shore 
with  his  mother,  in  going  down  to  visit  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Rhone  and  the  Arve. 

"  Now,"  said  Gerald,  "  here  is  a  chance  for  us 
to  make  a  landing.  I'll  head  her  in  towards  the 
shore." 

So  Gerald  turned  the  head  of  the  boat  in 
towards  the  bank,  and  then,  by  dint  of  hard 
rowing,  the  boys  contrived  gradually  to  draw 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  shore,  though  they  were 
all  the  time  drifting  rapidly  down.  At  last  the 
boat  came  so  near  that  the  bow  was  just  ready  to 
touch  the  bank,  and  then  Gerald  seized  the  paint- 
er, and,  watching  his  opportunity,  leaped  ashore, 
and,  running  to  the  nearest  willow,  wound  the 


216  Rollo   in    Geneva. 

Gerald  succeeds  in  making  fast.  The  boys  go  homo. 

painter  round  it.  This  at  once  checked  the  mo 
tion  of  the  bow,  and  caused  the  stern  to  swing 
round.  Gerald  immediately  unwound  the  painter, 
and  ran  to  the  willow  next  below,  where  he  wound 
it  round  again,  and  there  succeeded  at  last  in  mak- 
ing it  fast,  and  stopping  the  motion  of  the  boat 
altogether.  Rollo  and  the  Swiss  boy  then  made 
their  escape  safe  to  land. 

"  There ! "  said  Rollo,  taking  at  the  same  time 
a  high  jump,  to  express  his  exultation ;  "  there ! 
Here  we  are  safe,  and  who  cares  ?  " 

"  Ah !  "  said  Gerald,  calmly  ;  "  it  is  very  easy 
to  say  Who  cares  ?  now  that  we  have  got  safe  to 
land  ;  but  you'll  find  me  looking  out  sharp  not  to 
get  sucked  into  those  ripples  again." 

So  the  boys  went  home.  Gerald  found  a  man 
to  go  down  and  bring  back  the  boat,  while  Rollo 
proceeded  to  the  hotel,  to  report  the  affair  to  his 
father  and  mother.  Mrs.  Holiday  was  very  much 
alarmed,  but  Mr.  Holiday  seemed  to  take  the 
matter  quite  coolly.  He  said  he  thought  that 
Rollo  was  now,  for  all  the  rest  of  his  life,  in 
much  less  danger  of  being  drowned  by  getting 
carried  down  rapids  in  a  river  than  he  was 
before. 

"He  understands  the  subject  now  somewhat 
practically,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 


A  Fortunate  Accident.  217 

Rollo  wishes  to  visit  the  valley  of  Chamouni. 

The  term  of  Mr.  Holiday's  visit  had  now  ex- 
pired, and  the  arrangements  were  to  be  made  for 
leaving  town,  with  a  view  of  returning  again  to 
Paris.  Eollo,  however,  was  very  desirous  that 
before  going  back  to  Paris  they  should  make  at 
least  a  short  excursion  among  the  mountains. 

"  Where  shall  we  go  ?  "  said  his  father. 

"  To  the  valley  of  Chamouni,"  said  Rollo. 
"  They  say  that  that  is  the  prettiest  place  in  all 
Switzerland." 

"  How  long  will  it  take  us  to  go  ?  "  asked  Mr. 
Holiday. 

"  We  can  go  in  a  day,"  said  Rollo.  "  There 
are  plenty  of  diligences.  The  offices  of  them  are 
here  all  along  the  quay. 

"  Or,  if  you  don't  choose  to  go  so  far  in  a  day," 
continued  Rollo,  "  you  can  go  in  half  a  day  to 
the  entrance  of  the  valley,  where  there  is  a  good 
place  to  stop,  and  then  we  can  go  to  Chamouni 
the  next  day.  I  have  studied  it  all  out  in  the 
guide  book." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "It  seems 
that  we  can  get  into  the  valley  of  Chamouni  very 
easily  ;  and  now  how  is  it  about  getting  out  ?  " 

At  this  question  Rollo's  countenance  fell  a 
little,  and  he  replied  that  it  was  not  so  easy  to 
get  out. 

"  There  is  no  way  to  get  out,"  said  he,  "  except 


218  Rollo    in    Geneva. 

Description  of  the  valley  of  Chamouni.  Up  and  down. 

to  go  over  the  mountains,  unless  we  come  back 
the  same  way  we  go  in." 

"  That  would  not  be  quite  so  pleasant,"  said 
Mr.  Holiday. 

"  No,  sir/'  said  Rollo  ;  "  it  would  be  better  to 
go  out  some  new  way.  But  there  is  not  any 
way.  It  is  a  long,  narrow  valley,  very  high  up 
among  the  mountain  glaciers.  There  is  a  way  to 
get  out  at  the  upper  end,  but  it  is  only  a  moun- 
tain pass,  and  we  should  have  to  ride  over  on 
mules.  But  you  could  ride  on  a  mule  —  could 
not  you,  father  ?  " 

"Why,  yes"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "perhaps  1 
could  ;  but  it  might  be  too  fatiguing  for  your 
mother.  She  has  not  been  accustomed  to  ride 
on  horseback  much  of  late  years. 

"  Besides,"  he  continued,  "  I  suppose  that  as  it 
is  a  mountain  pass,  the  road  must  be  pretty  steep 
and  difficult." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "it  is  steep  some  part 
of  the  way.  You  have  to  go  up  for  half  an  hour 
by  zigzags  —  right  up  the  side  of  the  mountain. 
I  lead  about  it  in  the  guide  book.  Then,  after 
we  get  up  to  the  top  of  the  pass,  we  have  a  mon- 
strous long  way  to  go  down.  We  have  to  go 
down  for  two  hours,  as  steep  as  we  can  go." 

"  I  should  think  we  should  have  to  go  up  as 
much  as  down"  said   Mr.  Holiday ;  " for  it  is 


A  Fortunate    Accident.     219 

Various  ways  of  getting  out  of  the  valley. 

necessary  to  ascend  as  much  to  get  to  the  top  of 
any  hill  from  the  bottom  as  you  descend  in  going 
down  to  the  bottom  from  the  top." 

"  Ah,  but  in  Chamouni,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  are 
very  near  the  top  already.  It  is  a  valley,  it  ia 
true  ;  but  it  is  up  very  high  among  the  mountains, 
and  is  surrounded  with  snow  and  glaciers.  That 
is  what  makes  it  so  interesting  to  go  there.  Be- 
sides, we  can  see  the  top  of  Mont  Blanc  there, 
and  with  a  spy  glass  we  can  watch  the  people 
going  up,  as  they  walk  along  over  the  fields  of 
snow." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  I  should  like  to 
go  there  very  well,  if  your  mother  consents  ;  and 
then,  if  she  does  not  feel  adventurous  enough  to 
go  over  the  mountain  pass  on  a  mule,  we  can,  at 
all  events,  come  back  the  same  way  we  go." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and,  besides,  father," 
he  continued,  eagerly,  "  there  is  another  way  that 
we  can  do.  Mother  can  go  over  the  mountain 
pass  on  a  carrying  chair.  They  have  carrying 
chairs  there,  expressly  to  carry  ladies  over  the 
passes.  They  are  good,  comfortable  chairs,  with 
poles  each  side  of  them,  fastened  very  strong. 
The  lady  sits  in  the  chair,  and  then  two  men  take 
hold  of  the  poles,  one  before  and  the  other  behind, 
and  so  they  carry  her  over  the  mountains." 

"  I  should  think  that  would  be  very  easy  and 


220  Rollo   in   Geneva. 

Mrs.  Holiday's  conclusion.  What  Rollo  did  with  the  pin. 

very  comfortable,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "  Go  and 
find  your  mother,  and  explain  it  all  to  her,  and 
hear  what  she  says.  Tell  her  what  sort  of  a 
place  Chamouni  is,  and  what  there  is  to  be  seen 
there,  and  then  tell  her  of  the  different  ways 
there  will  be  of  getting  out  when  once  we  get  in. 
If  she  would  like  it  we  will  go." 

Mrs.  Holiday  did  like  the  plan  of  going  to 
Chamouni  very  much.  She  said  she  thought  that 
she  could  go  over  the  mountain  pass  on  a  mule  ; 
and  that  at  any  rate  she  could  go  on  the  carrying 
chair.  So  the  excursion  was  decided  upon,  and 
the  party  set  off  the  next  day. 

And  here  I  must  end  the  story  of  Rollo  at 
Geneva,  only  adding  that  it  proved  in  the  end 
that  the  fifteen  franc  pin  which  Rollo  bought, 
and  the  destination  of  which  he  made  a  secret  of, 
was  intended  for  his  mother.  He  kept  the  pin  in 
his  trunk  until  he  returned  to  America,  and  then 
sent  it  into  his  mother's  room,  with  a  little  note, 
one  morning  when  she  was  there  alone.  His 
mother  kept  the  pin  a  great  many  years,  and 
wore  it  a  great  many  times ;  and  she  said  she 
valued  it  more  than  any  other  ornament  she  had, 
though  she  had  several  in  her  little  strong  box 
that  had  cost  in  money  fifty  times  as  much. 


